Mayor Muriel Bowser’s homeless shelter proposal is hitting a wall in the D.C. Council, which is currently reworking the plan to use government-owned land rather than expensive commercial leases to potentially save the District millions.
D.C. Council President Phil Mendelson said Thursday he was changing the proposal and examining various alternate sites already owned by the government — a move that reportedly caught the Bowser administration by surprise.
“It is incomprehensible to me why the mayor would not use public land for this plan, to the extent that is possible,” Anita Crabtree, a corporate attorney and Ward 3 resident told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Using public land would decrease the cost of this plan exponentially.”
The mayor attempted to push her highly controversial plan to house the homeless in new facilities in each ward of the city through the Council as emergency legislation, exempting it from various zoning laws the plan violates. Conservative estimates of the proposal say it will cost roughly $660 million over 30 years, after which the District government will cede control of the properties to developers. (RELATED: Community Opposition Threatens To Derail Mayor’s Costly Shelter Plan)
“In the case of Ward 3, the Second District police station site has been presented to the mayor as an alternative site that is zoned correctly and larger, which would allow for a large facility,” Crabtree said. “If the HomewardDC plan is such a priority of the mayor’s, then why not use that land?”
Bowser has been adamant her proposal must be approved in its current form if the city plans to successfully close D.C. General Hospital, the District’s current homeless shelter, by the 2018 deadline. Mendelson says using public lands could save the city millions, according to NBC4.
“I’m concerned that the costs seem to be high, but that’s what we’re checking out,” Mendelson told NBC4. “The proposal came to the Council but there is no funding in the budget for the proposal.”
The future of the proposal looks uncertain as Mendelson reworks the plan. He already delayed a vote on the bill in April over cost concerns. The Bowser administration is still supporting the original proposal.
“We stand behind the proposal on the bill that is before the Council,” Rashad Young, city administrator told NBC4. “We are certainly always happy to answer the Chairman’s questions.”
Bowser responded Friday, defending her plan, asking the Council to not risk the 2018 deadline by delaying a vote much longer. Mendelson is expected to hold a vote sometime in June, before the Council’s summer recess.
“If the Council delays too much longer, beyond their recess, I don’t know if we will hit any of those timelines,” Bowser told Tom Sherwood Friday on The Politics Hour. “I’m going to push as hard as I can because the families in D.C. General now deserve it. If there as alternate plan about some use of public land, we have to make sure that the Council then funds it.”
The delay is in large part due to Bowser’s attempt to have the proposal voted on as emergency legislation. This would exempt the legislation from regular oversight and force the Council to rework current zoning laws. The proposed site in Ward 3, for example, currently sits on a plot of land zoned for a maximum of three single-family homes. (RELATED: DC Residents In Revolt Over Mayor’s Plan To Put Homeless In $100,000 Units Next Door)
In addition to Council concerns over zoning issues, a section in the bill asking the Council to skip contracting procurements is also contributing to the delay. Some Council members said they were worried over the rushed nature of the proposal.
“The part about a council resolution to hurry up the zoning process, that’s out,” Council member Mary Cheh told TheDCNF in April. “All that’s left are these letters of intent and they’re not binding. It’s more of a political statement.”
Details of how Mendelson plans to rework the mayor’s proposal are currently unknown. Mendelson’s office did not respond to a request by TheDCNF for information on his plan.
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