ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – A push to repurpose a vacant building as a homeless shelter failed at Thursday’s Escanaba City Council meeting.
Nonprofit Hope on the Horizon 906 has been advocating to turn the former Bertrand’s building into a transitional living facility. According to Escanaba’s master plan, the property is currently zoned for commercial use. To utilize it for transitional living, it would need to be rezoned into the City’s multi-family C zone.
Following a public hearing on the issue, the City Council voted against the proposal, following a recommendation from the Planning Commission.
Council members acknowledged that there is a need for transitional housing, and there are buildings zoned for that purpose in the existing multi-family C zone. However, Hope on the Horizon President Laurie Kaski-Hammar says that none of the available properties alone would suit their needs, which include beds, a kitchen and dining area, rooms for job skills training and counseling, and space for other resources.
“I do hope that we can continue moving with this project, and I’d be more than happy to continue to support it in the C district—where that’s allowed at right—no problem,” Mayor Pro Tem Tyler Dubord said at the City Council meeting. “I know you would have great support in this community to help you with resources or any other things that the community helps, because this community is very giving, but this was a zoning issue for that area specifically. Keep up the fight, and keep moving forward.”
In a written statement to WZMQ 19 News, Kaski-Hammar stated that the denial of the proposal was not a surprise.
“The council repeated several times that we are allowed to develop this facility in zone C,” she wrote. “Zone C is along First Avenue South parallel to main street. It is mostly multi family homes. This type of building, a multifamily house, can be made to work, it is not ideal. We will work with what we are given. It may mean that instead of being in one building we may need to be in several…”
Kaski-Hammar continued, “We prefer that the city work with us. This is a city problem: A city leadership problem. Our group and many citizens in this community want to partner with these leaders to help where help is needed. The time is now, the questions if not here, then where?”
