Befitting a topic that dominated discussion all through 2024, Traverse City commissioners will tackle several items related to homelessness at their final meeting of the year tonight (Monday). Those include a $250,000 commitment to supporting Safe Harbor’s transition to a year-round shelter; discussion of a timeline for enforcing the city’s camping ban at the Pines; proposed ordinance updates to address alcohol consumption, prowling, and loitering; and a proposed resolution to end chronic homelessness in the region by 2028 through permanent supportive housing.

Commissioners have a packed agenda tonight since it’s their final meeting of the year and since a prior meeting on December 2 was cancelled due to heating issues at the Governmental Center, bumping several items to tonight’s agenda. One of those items is the allocation of $250,000 – $125,000 in the 2024-25 budget and $125,000 in the 2025-26 budget – from city American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to support Safe Harbor’s plans to expand to a year-round shelter. Operating year-round is expected to increase Safe Harbor’s budget by $600,000. Safe Harbor is seeking support from the city – and will also seek support from Grand Traverse County and other community partners – to close that funding gap.

Expanding year-round will require Safe Harbor to amend its special land use permit (SLUP) with the city, since its operational model is changing. Joshua Brandt, board spokesperson for Safe Harbor, tells The Ticker the shelter plans to apply for the SLUP amendment as soon as “funding for the proposed operation has been secured.” In a letter to the city, Safe Harbor said it aims to secure those funding commitments by the end of January in order to “file and receive timely approval of a SLUP permit and have the necessary staff committed and in place to operate year-round.” Safe Harbor’s season, which started October 15, would normally end April 30 without a year-round extension.

Safe Harbor is planning to go to year-round – in partnership with the city and other service providers – as an interim solution to the crisis at the Pines, where between 80 and 120 unsheltered people were living off Eleventh Street this summer. With the advance of winter and the seasonal reopening of Safe Harbor, the number of campers has now dwindled to the mid-30s. Still, that leaves a few dozen people out in the bitter elements in an environment that community leaders have universally criticized as unsafe and untenable. Safe Harbor still has room to accommodate more overnight guests if others decided to leave the encampment. Brandt says the shelter has been averaging a nightly guest count in the mid-60s during recent winter storms, though it has a capacity of 74.

While camping still remains an option for those at the Pines, that time is soon coming to an end. City officials are in discussions about setting a date in which they’ll begin enforcing the city’s no-camping ban again at the site. They hadn’t done so previously – at least in the Men’s Trail area – because of their recognition that the unhoused needed some place to go in Traverse City, and also because of legal uncertainty over where cities could even enforce such camping bans.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that communities do have the authority to target homeless encampments and can implement fines or other penalties for individuals sleeping in public spaces. That gave the city legal standing to clear out the Pines, though officials emphasize they’ve wanted to take a compassionate approach and give campers plenty of warning – and time to find another place to stay or be connected to support resources – before enforcing the ordinance.
 
“Our community police officer and social workers have been out there explaining that a day is coming (for enforcement), so it won’t be a surprise to anyone there,” says City Manager Liz Vogel. “It will be really important for everyone to know whatever that date is.” The enforcement will likely start by spring, given that “the goal is not to have the Pines again next summer,” says City Police Chief Matt Richmond. City officials are hopeful most campers will leave voluntarily, though acknowledge some may refuse – and will eventually face penalties. “We’ll address those on a case-by-case basis,” Richmond says.

Commissioners tonight will also consider several city ordinance updates as part of a “safety plan” laid out by Richmond to minimize incidents when Safe Harbor is operating, particularly as it moves toward the year-round extension. The three amendments would address public alcohol consumption, prowling, and loitering. The alcohol ordinance update states that “no person shall consume alcoholic liquor on the public right of way, on public sidewalks, in a public parking lot, in a public parking structure, or in the portion of any business premises open to the public if that business is not licensed to sell alcoholic liquor for consumption on the premises.” Violating the ordinance would be a civil infraction.

The prowling update states that “no person shall knowingly prowl about premises owned or leased by another without the express or implied consent of that person.” Right now, the city’s trespassing ordinance requires a warning first before issuing a violation, but the loitering rule would allow police to immediately address a prowler without having to issue a warning first. Violating the ordinance would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and/or a fine not to exceed $500.

Finally, the loitering update states that “no person shall loiter on a public street, sidewalk or the premises of a public building under circumstances that warrant alarm for the safety or health of any person or property in the vicinity.” Conditions that could warrant alarm include threatening or menacing behavior, use of alcohol or controlled substances, or blocking the free passage of pedestrian or vehicle traffic on a street or sidewalk. Violating the ordinance would be a civil infraction. If supported by commissioners, the ordinance updates could be scheduled for a January 6 enactment.

Finally, commissioners will consider a resolution of support proposed by Commissioner Tim Werner for the Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness’ Effort to End Chronic Homelessness Through Permanent Supportive Housing. The resolution states that the city “believes that every person deserves safe, stable, and permanent housing” and formally supports the Coalition’s “mission to end chronic homelessness in our region by 2028 and recognizes the importance of permanent supportive housing as a cornerstone of this effort.” The resolution also commits the city to actively collaborating on expanding access to permanent supportive housing and supportive services, leveraging city resources to back such efforts, and promoting awareness “around the issue of chronic homelessness, building a collective commitment to end this crisis with compassion, dignity, and urgency.”