Jacksonville aldermen are considering moving forward with a proposed ordinance detailing how any new homeless shelters would be zoned.
“All the aldermen should have received a copy of the proposed ordinance. It’s nothing that is in place, but just something to take a look at, review, if you have anything to add or adjust,” Alderman Joe Lockman said Monday during a city council meeting. “It has to do with the approval process of maybe indexed — or another, say, homeless shelter or warming and cooling center that may or may not come up in the city at some point in time.”
No ordinance has been brought up for first reading, and it would have to pass a vote during two separate council meetings to become an ordinance.
The ordinance likely would affect how the Planning and Zoning Committee approves new shelters, Lockman said after the meeting.
“It has to do with — and it’s really just in a planning stage right now — but just looking into what the planning and zoning commission might want to consider,” he said.
Lockman would not provide a copy of the proposed ordinance, saying it is exempt from disclosure.
“The city attorney advised that since it was never on the agenda and never discussed in an open meeting, that for now, it would be exempt from disclosure,” Lockman said in a text message Tuesday. “As soon as we formulate a final product, I will be happy to share it.”
Justian Corliss, captain of the Jacksonville Salvation Army, reviewed a paper copy of the ordinance on April 2. That copy was provided to the Unhoused Steering Committee, a volunteer group on which Corliss and Lockman sit and which provides community input about ways to help homeless people.
Corliss no longer has a copy of the proposed ordinance, but he spoke about its goal as he remembered it.
“I know there is a desire within the ordinance to make sure that we are doing due diligence and identifying resources and best practices before we open any new services,” he said Tuesday.
The ordinance mainly focuses on overnight shelters, which The Salvation Army does not provide, Corliss said.
“I do know that it was making sure that there was public safety taken into consideration in the event that any new shelter was going to be proposed, that it would go through an approval process within the city prior to actually opening,” Corliss said. “I believe it also limited the number of shelters that would be allowable within the city itself, so that way there was less of an opportunity for conflicting or competing services.”
Jacksonville has two homeless shelters. One is a daytime, no-barrier shelter run by The Salvation Army at 1124 Wall St. The other is New Directions, a nighttime-only shelter at 400 W. Morgan St.