Danville homeless shelter's proximity to school debated

Danville City Council can’t legally stop House of Hope from moving to its new location on South Ridge Street. But the growing debate over the homeless shelter and its proximity to Galileo Magnet High School and downtown businesses dominated discussion Tuesday night at council’s regular meeting.

Gary Bender, co-owner of Dixie Bags & More, told council of the concerns he and his wife, Michelle, had about being next door to the homeless shelter’s new location.

Bender said one of their biggest fears is a potential increase in panhandling, which might impact customer traffic downtown.

“We are not against homeless people or efforts to help them,” Bender stressed.

He said he had met with representatives of House of Hope, and they agreed that perceptions of downtown and the House of Hope have to be changed. But Bender still believes a different location for the shelter would be “more consistent” with the city’s efforts to increase the number of businesses downtown.

“Is there anything that you as council can do to assist them to find another location?” Bender asked.

He also suggested that the zoning code’s definition of a hotel be tightened up, since this code is what made the relocation of the shelter possible.

Councilman Fred Shanks told council that he publicly “questioned the wisdom of relocating the homeless shelter to a commercial building adjacent to Galileo High School and at the heart of the revitalizing central business district.”

Shanks reminded council that there will be a public forum on the issue at 7 p.m. Thursday at Galileo. He said representatives of House of Hope and Danville Public Schools were sponsoring the forum, and would be on hand to answer questions.

“The shelter board needs to see who is opposed to this location, and see if they want to step back and garner broader support, or just bulldoze ahead and alienate a community from which it should be seeking support,” Shanks said.

Mayor Sherman Saunders noted that since the shelter moved to the location legally, council could do nothing to force them to move.

Shanks also called for advertising a public hearing to amend Danville’s ordinance defining hotels and motels to comply with the State Code definition, a move that might be too late to impact House of Hope but would avoid problems in the future.

On another issue, Tom Voaklander, of Suzie’s Deli on Watson Street, told council he had only heard of the proposed meals tax increase that morning — but he wanted to object to it, saying it could result in an overall drop in business. He also noted that there will be an increase in the federal minimum wage, from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour, which will also impact many businesses.

Councilman David Luther noted that Tuesday night’s meeting was not the public hearing on the issue, and Voeklander said he would return for the June 2 meeting. At that time, council will hold a public hearing and vote on whether to:

w Raise the hotel/motel tax from 3 to 6 percent;

w Raise the meals tax from 5 to 6 percent;

w Increase certain building permits as well as inspection, planning and zoning fees;

w Increase costs assessed in criminal and traffic cases by $1 in district and circuit courts;

w Institute a tax on probate of wills and grants of administration; and

w Institute a fee for a permit for a street closing for an event.

In other action, Danville Utilities’ proposed service fee reduction over the next year was also heard for the first time, as was the formalization of distribution of Tobacco Commission and Governor’s Opportunity Fund grants for economic development projects involving Goodyear and EBI and acceptance of a grant to replace computers at both Danville Library locations.

w Contact Thibodeau at

dthibodeau@registerbee.com

or (434) 791-7985.