Don and Debbie Williams requested the City use its emergency powers to declare an emergency thereby allowing the Warming Shelter LLC to operate an emergency, overnight shelter at Taft Hall, 1206 SE 48 Place, Lincoln City.  This is not a permitted use under the City’s zoning ordinance.

Ordinance No. 2018-04 allows the City to “designate any developed or undeveloped City property temporary emergency operation uses, including but not limited to use as an emergency facility shelter, overnight shelter . . . Private or other public property may similarly be designated by the City, with the permission of the property owner . . . .”

The City has encouraged Mr. and Mrs. Williams to apply for a zone change if they wish to use their property as an overnight, homeless shelter.  We haven’t received an application.

Ultimately the decision to exercise the City’s emergency powers or rezone the property is a land use decision and it’s always helpful in such cases to receive information from the public, particularly those living in and around the property in question.  To that end I am hosting two neighborhood meetings to discuss this with the neighborhood.

The first meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 20th at 6:00 pm in the Driftwood Public Library and the second meeting will be held at 5:30 pm in the North Lincoln County Historical meeting in Taft – 4907 Hwy 101.  These meetings are not City Council meetings nor are they public hearings.  Rather, they are meetings to help me gather information from the residents of this area.

I’ve already received a lot of great information by going door to door in the neighborhoods and hope to hear much more.