Everett council approves plans to build homeless housing

Update: The Everett City Council unanimously approved plans to build homeless housing.

The 6-0 vote pushes the plan forward to build a 70-unit apartment building near the intersection of Bershire Drive and Evergreen Way.

According to the city, they picked the location because it’s a convenient spot close to public transit.

Neighbors fight against the project

Leading up to the vote, The Daily Herlad reported a group of Pinehurst-Beverly Park neighbors packed council meetings to voice their opposition to the plan. One woman told the council she put her house on the market because when she calls the police nobody comes.

KIRO 7 reports neighbors submitted 150 signatures opposing the project.

Residents say they’re already having issues with drug use and vagrancy and that the mostly single-family-home neighborhood is not the place for a 70-unit apartment building where homeless services don’t exist.

Related: University of Washington graduate’s selfless efforts benefiting the homeless

A snapshot of a week’s worth of crime in Pinehurst (Oct. 23-29) shows the bulk of reports involved theft. Other than the seven thefts, there was one robbery and one reckless burn on a road or sidewalk. The robbery occurred inside a grocery store. The map does not specify if any of those crimes relate to homeless.

With the project approved, Catholic Housing Services is authorized to begin the permitting process, including an environmental review.

Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson notes that Everett’s population tops 100,000. The total population was 103,019 at the 2010 census. By 2035, it is expected to grow by an additional 60,000 people.

“That growth will bring challenges, including increased traffic and a great need for housing at all price points,” the mayor wrote in his annual update. “As well as opportunities to strategically reinvest in our city.”

The city has been brainstorming ways to deal with the issue of homelessness for some time. Officers reported that daily tasks have included dealing with issues that fit more into the category of social services, which is at least one reason a social worker was hired. The department has also been developing a Community Outreach and Enforcement Team.

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