My Letter to the City of Marysville, Mayor Jon Nehring and Generations Community Church

Note: Mayor Jon Nehring and Haylie Miller (Director of Community Development) reached out immediately (less than 24 hours) to hear my concerns and gather my input. I appreciate their support and collaboration.

I am 100% opposed to the proposal to put a Pallet Shelter in the parking lot of the Generations Community Church in a residential neighborhood. This is not a solution and only creates more problems for the homeless and for our families and communities.

PLEASE DO NOT APPROVE THIS PROPOSAL

Pallet shelters are a substandard way of living that devalues and dehumanizes the homeless as "less than" or unworthy. These pallet shelters and homeless encampments are only a bandaid that fosters housing segregation, perpetuates poor living conditions and do little to break the cycle of chronic homelessness. The Housing Snohomish County Project Report describes home as a place "where our days begin and end, where we go to be ourselves and to be with people we love," and goes on to describe the values we associate with home to be "security, comfort, identity, and personal freedom." The Pallet Shelter Project is promoting 64 square foot metal boxes as "transitional housing" for homeless adults who may or may not be working. These metal boxes are smaller than a jail cell and do not include water, electricity, kitchens, etc. How do these pallet homes align with the values of the Housing Snohomish County Project Report? We shouldn't have to scale down the idea of basic economic security to fit inside the dimensions of a tiny house.

There is a shortage of affordable housing in Snohomish County. How is this transitional housing if there is nowhere to transition to? Tell me where the adults that participate in this homeless shelter are expected to transition to if there is no affordable housing? A 2018 Herald article highlighted the lack of affordable housing in Snohomish County, stating that nearly one in nine households spend at least half their income on rent. The Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County stated that county population and job growth are each outpacing housing growth by more than three to one. No where in the recommendations to address this housing shortage was it recommended that we create more homeless encampments and shelters. In fact, they recommended the following:

• Reduce parking requirements for affordable housing

• Waive or reduce utility connection and impact fees

• Require affordable housing in developments near transit hubs

• Prioritize surplus public land for affordable housing

• Establish specific goals in local housing elements

• Municipalities lend credit support for affordable housing loans

All of the recommendations listed above are focused on getting families and individuals into affordable housing and that's where this funding should be going.

The North Snohomish County Outreach has tried to provide transitional or "bridge" housing before and it was a resounding failure. Just this winter (2020-21) the Cold Weather Shelter Team at NSCO placed 49 Households in hotel rooms with meals provided. Of those households only 6 households moved into housing and most are still unhoused and living in stability. How do they expect the Pallet Shelter to fare any better? Once again, without affordable housing to transition to, there is no point in having transitional housing.

Pallet shelters are expensive and that money would be better spent placing families in permanent housing. Pallet, the company that creates and builds the aluminum and composite shelters advertise that the cost of a 64 square foot shelter is just $5,495. But is it really? The parking lot at Generations Church does not have the infrastructure to support these shelters. If they want to provide electricity, heating and air conditioning, that comes at an extra cost. They have to level the ground, run electricity to the site, put in a restroom with plumbing facilities where they don't already exist. The fully funded, staffed and supported pallet shelter of Garden View in Bellingham is projected to cost more than $500,000 to build and annual operation costs will be upwards of $360,000. Wouldn't it make more sense to put that funding toward the actions recommended by the Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County and an acceptable quality of life rather than transitional housing?

There are not adequate essential services available to support the individuals homed in the pallet shelters. The pallet company recommends that there is proximity to essential services as part of best practices for shelter site locations. These essential services include employment opportunities, social services, grocery stores, public transportation, hospitals and primary care, the majority of which are not available in the parking lot of the Generations Church in a residential neighborhood. This planned community is also expected to include only eight pallet homes - far less than the recommended 30-50 shelters according to Pallet. They also recommend that Services Management be on site and available to residents. This is not included listed or included in the site map. How do they plan to provide food to these adults who have no kitchens? Will the church be open 24/7?

There is a lack of information and planning so far in regards to this project proposal. It feels as though someone, with the best of intentions, is rushing through the project and not taking into consideration all of the key factors. When you go to the NSCO webpage and click on pallet shelters, all it says is there will be more information coming soon. (update: NSCO updated their page after I posted this letter and now has some vague information and promises. I encourage you to check it out for yourself). When you check the Marysvillewa.gov development map, the project isn't even listed. Even though their website claims that if there is a public notice it will be on the map. When I asked about it, Marysville Community Development Director Haylie Miller, told me that the map is only updated once a month. When I asked if I could see the project proposal so that I could provide my informed opinion and input for the Community Development board to review, Miller gave me a link to the project materials where there were no project materials uploaded. All of this and yet a decision regarding this project is expected to be made by June 9th. How is this reasonable? On top of that, Miller shared with my neighbor when she called that although this is a temporary 90 day program, the NSCO and GCC plan to petition the city to amend city code to allow the project to become permanent if it is "successful". Who is making this determination and with what data?

So, now that I've covered all the reasons why Pallet Shelters don't actually help the homeless, let's talk about the effect they will have on the families that already live in the area, including my own.

• Property values in residential areas near homeless shelters and encampments are reduced by more than 12%.

• Crime rates rose 103% in the areas surrounding the Licton Springs Village houses, a tiny home village in Seattle.

My kids catch the bus across the street. They learned to ride their bikes in that parking lot. We've been anxiously awaiting the return of community events sponsored by Generations Church like Trunk or Treat and the Easter Egg Hunt that were cancelled by the pandemic. I feel betrayed by the city and by Generations Church.

They claim that individuals using the shelter will be screened - screened for what and by whom? A similar encampment is opening at the Everett Gospel Mission in Everett and there is no requirement that the inhabitants be clean and sober. Currently there is no indication that there will be a requirement for adults who are housed in these facilities to be "clean and sober". No one making sure that weapons aren't brought into the area. No one monitoring their guests. No one preventing other homeless individuals and friends from putting up their tents in the parking lot. They claim they will have 24/7 security - will this security also protect the easements and protected wetlands immediately surrounding this pallet shelter and bordering my neighborhood?

Generations Community Church also borders the Bayview Trail where families in our community take walks and spend time with their families - a rare opportunity when it feels that we still haven't yet come out of lockdown from the pandemic. How will the city ensure the safety of these families?

Want to know how you can help?

1. Email Pastor Craig Laughlin and the Generations Community Church at office@generationscommunity.org and let him know how this Pallet Shelter will impact you.

2. Register to attend and give public comment at the Marysville City Council meeting here: https://www.marysvillewa.gov/.../City-Council-Meeting...

3. Sign our change.org petition here: http://chng.it/m8Ns8bwVhn

4. Participate in our letter writing campaign. Need help writing your letter? Check out our template here: https://docs.google.com/.../2PACX-1vSbz6bss9d11Tv.../pub...

5. Register to attend the NSCO Pallet Shelter Presentation here: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../tZMkduCoqj0pH9yQkiGOM1Iy6AWns...