After public pushback to the proposed expansion of a temporary homeless shelter in Westport last winter, the Westport City Council is considering adopting a new chapter of municipal code that would impose specific rules for internal operations and vetting guests.

If adopted, the resolution would amend chapter 17 of Westport’s municipal code by adding a chapter titled “temporary homeless winter shelter,” which requires shelter sponsors to obtain permits to operate shelters, and in doing so, must meet requirements for health and safety, use of shelters, public notice and city inspections to “create a process that will ensure the safety of city residents and guests of the shelter.”

At a public hearing for the regulations during a Monday city council meeting, Westport residents voiced concerns about public safety risks of the shelter — which echoed sentiment from city council meetings last January — and about the strictness of the proposed policies.

The council ultimately decided Monday to table the resolution and conduct another public hearing on the issue during the last meeting in August, because, as Councilor Troy Meyers pointed out, two pages from the final draft proposed code were missing from the meeting’s agenda packet and the city’s website.

The proposed code — directed at “religious organizations” in its opening paragraph — would affect a temporary homeless shelter run by Chaplains on the Harbor on West Spokane Street. According to Executive Director Barbra Weza, the nonprofit has provided a winter shelter at its 20,000-square-foot church for the last eight years.

Weza addressed the city council during Monday’s public hearing.

“I have read through this proposed ordinance tonight, and there is much of it that I am opposed to,” Weza said. “I just have one question for the council. These are constituents of your district, of your city, as well as everybody sitting in that room. They are human beings. And my question to you is, what is the goal to care for these constituents in your city?”

At a meeting in January, the city council directed the planning commission to “further review” the cold weather shelter issue. The commission then formed a committee with council members and Westport residents to draft the new rules.

At the time, the council also voted to formally oppose a proposed expansion of the shelter, directing Mayor Rob Bearden to send a letter expressing the city’s position to the Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners.

The county board, along with Grays Harbor County Public Health, administers the cold weather shelter program each year, providing funds to operate shelters from Nov. 1 through March 31. While other shelters in other parts of the county last year were slow to get up and running due to issues with location, permitting and opposition from the city of Aberdeen, the Chaplains’ Westport shelter was the only location to start services on time, providing up to 15 beds, hot meals and showers to guests.

When a December cold snap forced the shelter to capacity on several occasions, Weza requested and received extra funding to add up to 10 beds to the shelter, which prompted Westport residents to pack council chambers and voice concerns about the shelter expansion and operation.

Although the shelter was eight years running, some people said they had observed an influx of homeless people in Westport because of a lack of alternate shelter locations, said Councilor Melissa Huerta on Monday.

The regulations are “not to make it so we can’t have a shelter,” Huerta said. “I realize there are homeless people out there, they are our constituents as well, but this just basically puts something in place.”

“We have families that live in the area,” she added. “That is in a residential area right there, and they need to feel their families are safe.”

She said a committee worked on the resolution “very thoroughly” and reviewed it with a “fine-toothed comb.” City Attorney Wayne Hagen also said he reviewed the resolution.

With the new code, entry into the winter shelter would be contingent on a screening for outstanding warrants and a check for sex offender status, which would require guests to provide valid identification to local law enforcement. The ID policy, along with others in the new code, Weza said, could act as barriers to people using the shelter.

“We deal with men and women both who are fleeing domestic violence,” Weza said in an interview. “Many times, they have left with the clothes on their back.”

“We’re not running a prison, we’re not running a jail,” she said. “We want to provide shelter for people to prevent people from dying in the cold and to provide them with some dignity.”

According to Grays Harbor County Public Health Director Mike McNickle, some funding sources require shelters to be “low barrier.” While that definition varies depending on the source, it generally means the shelter does not require criminal background checks, credit checks or income verification, program participation, sobriety, or identification.

“Low barrier shelters may, however, enforce safety requirements for self, staff, place and others,” he said in an email.

It will ultimately be up to the Board of County Commissioners to determine which funding sources — if any — will support shelter operations for the 2023-2024 winter. McNickle said public health staff will present commissioners with several funding options at an Aug. 16 workshop.

Weza said Chaplains has not made a formal decision whether or not it will apply for funding for the winter shelter in Westport.

Not only might the new city code pose barriers to entry for homeless people, but also Chaplains’ ability to run the shelter, Weza said. As it reads now, the code would require at least one shower for every 10 guests. That number was often exceeded last year at the shelter, which has only one shower, Weza said, and installing another would mean an “expense and a hardship.”

Weza said another part of the code, which would require at least one on-site staff member for every six beds, doesn’t align with state guidelines for staffing in homeless shelters, and would force the agency to increase staffing.

Weza said Chaplains has not decided whether or not it will apply for funding to run the winter shelter for the 2023-2024 season. The agency recently signed a year-long contract with Grays Harbor County that provides funding through the Department of Commerce for the agency’s “day center.” At the Spokane Street church, Chaplains is providing food, showers and laundry and connecting people to mental health and substance use disorder services.

Contact reporter Clayton Franke at 406-552-3917 or clayton.franke@thedailyworld.com.