Details on the proposed project to provide temporary housing for the homeless are few and far between.
At a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 10, the City Council voted 7-1 to allocate $535,000 to purchase 40 pallet houses for “The Doorway Project” to provide temporary housing for the homeless.
Housing and Neighborhood Department Director Michelle Kennedy said the city would need about a one-quarter acre lot to accommodate the 40 Pallet houses, which are 8 feet by 8 feet, providing 64-square-feet of living space for two people.
City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba said that the location of the temporary housing should not place an extra burden on the occupants “by taking them far away from their natural support system.” He also said that it had to be located close to transit services.
A map was provided with four “Homeless Points of Frequency” – the Regency Inn, the Department of Social Services, the Interactive Resource Center (IRC) and Greensboro Urban Ministry. The map indicates that the temporary housing should be located within a mile of at least one of the facilities.
City Councilmember Zack Matheny, when asked where the temporary housing project would be located, stated in an email that city staff “will not be releasing the location, so I do not know nor does any city council member.”
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that she understood that the location of the temporary housing community had not been selected. She suggested that the city consider placing the Pallet shelters inside a vacant big box store or other large vacant building, which would provide additional security and protection from the elements.
There are a lot of other questions that were not answered before the vote on Monday. One is the total cost of the project. Kennedy said that two-bathroom facilities with two showers, two sinks and two toilets would need to be provided for the 40 Pallet shelters and the cost of those was about $100,000 each.
There was also no estimate of the cost of preparing the site for the 40 Pallet shelters or the cost of management and security for the site.
Unbelievable! 40 pallet boxes to hold 2 people per box. One bathroom. It doesn’t matter where you put them, this will fail. I foresee fights over the bath house, territorial arguments. Hmm, there is no food in these boxes. I work at a shelter every winter. The Community, not City sponsored shelters offer a warm place, a warm meal, a safe environment, people to talk to and a comfortable place to sleep. The only requirement is that you are not doing drugs or alcohol. The City is going to give them a box and 1/40th of a bathroom. Those who choose to stay on the streets at night are usually those that choose to continue drinking and doing drug or have serious mental health issues. Seems like this “little box City” is kind of like a “little box jail” for those who don’t conform to the laws…. I’m sure I will be reading about an uproar, a fire and about anything else that could happen in a “community” like this. Where are our council representative’s heads! What are they thinking!
Does this not conflict with some type of zoning, building code or development ordinance? How can you put 80 people in buildings on a 1/4 acre lot so there is sufficient space for access and the bathrooms? Someone needs to do some homework before this catastrophe happens.
“City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba said that the location of the temporary housing should not place an extra burden on the occupants “by taking them far away from their natural support system.” He also said that it had to be located close to transit services.“
Their NATURAL SUPPORT SYSTEM is the Greensboro taxpayer. Don’t worry about anything else. The drugs and crime will follow them wherever they are.
Their support system should be their families, not government. Where are the families? Where was the family of Marcus Smith when he was living homeless on the streets of Greensboro? The Greensboro Police Department was put in the unenviable position to try and protect him from himself. We all know what happened after that. So many people should be ashamed of their behavior over this incident.
Ha. Yep Greensboro is really leading the way. North Carolina’s first indoor shantytown. IMO with no working plumbing these will just be upgraded shacks. What a joke.
Yes, and the size of these things reminds me of out buildings you can purchase at Lowes, Home Depot, etc., which are probably much cheaper than these units. The City needs to tell us how much they cost, but next thing you know they’ll also be giving them air conditioning.
The Pallet Shelters are heated and air-conditioned.
They are 13k each and they have heat and a/c
With the exception of Zack Matheny, if you put the brains of City Council in a gnat’s a$$, it would fly backwards!
They should be very embarrassed that they are so ignorant and also stupid!
I hate to say it, but these pallet homes are going to be trashed. If you are ever downtown walking or running on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you would see how trashed with litter and urine the doorways/entryways of businesses are where many homeless people sleep and then leave their trash behind.
Keep enabling and pissing in the wind.
At over $13,000 per pallet house the price of the house seems very high. Why would you not bid this work out snd see if you could ge these very small structures cheaper. But that’s a business man speaking.
Maybe some on the council have friends or relatives who own businesses that are providing these “houses”. Would be nice to know the name of the company and if any city council members are related to the company owners.
Another poor use of taxpayers money. I think Greensboro’s new tag line should be “give it all to the poor and needy.”
Isn’t that what Jesus said?
My guess is it has been a long time since you read the New Testament, if ever. Nowhere in the New Testament is it written that Jesus said, “all should be given to the poor and needy.”
Are you poor and needy or just black
Hey Hammer, you stole all of the commentary from my reply to Chris in the previous shanty town article about how “cheap” this project was. No problem though. 😉
I still maintain that this will be drowned in a series of lawsuits when these guys OD or kill each other on the City’s poorly supervised property. I’m sure “concerned family members” are already lining up lawyers for when the inevitable happens.
Absolutely insane! Who the heck let this project run & at a cost of $13,375.00 for a box is just screwed up! Glad I don’t live in Greensboro, better yet, Guilford County! Too many damn liberals over there….
Mandate Mayor wants to build resettlement ghettos indoors. What an innovative leadership idea. That way folks passing by won’t see how quickly these fancy tents fall apart and catch fire. Also sounds like these will never pass building codes that every other resident and builder and In NC and Greensboro are forced to comply with. Yet another Boondoggle brought to you by the Tanger Center supporters that cannot stand seeing the less fortunate on their way to watch 50 year old Broadway retreads.
If our socialist overlords keep getting their way, we’ll all be living in pallet houses before too long.
With that amount of money, the city could purchase some used Motor Homes and then park them at location of the homeless overnight parking and two problems would be solved. When the idea falls apart the motor homes can be hauled away the the homeless still inside.