City sets sights on 18th & Haskell for Lawrence’s Pallet Shelter Village, old Veritas building for shelter

Post updated to add photo at 5:05 p.m. Monday, March 6:

The City of Lawrence is planning to raise modular shelters for people experiencing homelessness at a site near 18th Street and Haskell Avenue.

The green space at 800 Lynn St. will be home to the Pallet Shelter Village, multiple sources have confirmed. It will provide temporary shelter for up to 75 people at a time.

In addition, multiple sources have confirmed that the city plans to buy the old Veritas Christian School property on North Michigan Street, possibly for use as a family shelter.

Update:• No deal: City of Lawrence, developers reach ‘mutual impasse’ on proposed site of Pallet Shelter Village, March 8, 2023

In December, the Lawrence City Commission approved using $4.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act money — federal COVID-19 relief funds — to purchase the modular homes for people experiencing homelessness from Pallet, a "Public Benefit Corporation."

The shelter village will not be operational until June in a site that city staff members had not yet identified as of City Manager Craig Owens’ memo to the city commission last month. City staff will bring the commission a contract with Pallet "soon," that memo stated, but the contract has not yet appeared on a commission meeting agenda.

The modular Pallet homes, which will include a heating and cooling source but no bathrooms, will be part of a "village setting" that includes restrooms, laundry, shower and community gathering facilities and support service offices. The individual units include locking doors and windows, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors for safety.

The city envisions Pallet being in use for three to five years "while other more permanent housing solutions, like affordable rental and homeownership, are developed," according to Owens’ memo. "Pallet homes are needed now, but the City does not plan to use them forever."

The red pin on the map below indicates the approximate location of 800 Lynn St., near 19th Street and Haskell Avenue.

The site is close to a development on Beatnik Court that includes seven affordable houses that are part of the Tenants to Homeowners program and six market rate houses, one of which is currently listed for $499,000.

According to Pallet's website, its shelter villages can be built in as little as a day. A couple of other project locations include Fayetteville, Arkansas — home to the University of Arkansas — and Grand Junction, Colorado.

Multiple sources have also confirmed the city's plans to purchase the building that formerly housed Veritas Christian School, 256 N. Michigan St., likely to use as a family shelter, but its purpose could still change.

Jenn Wolsey, former homeless programs coordinator for the city, said she and other city officials looked at Veritas as a possible city acquisition and resource for homelessness back in October 2022.

Wolsey said the city might use the Veritas location as a potential family shelter — an unmet need in the Lawrence community.

"You wouldn't be able to put a lot of modular homes in (at Veritas)," Wolsey said. "Personally I thought it would be a good property for a mixed use, like if you were going to do a family shelter and then maybe have case management providers there from each location actually officing there. But I thought it looked better for a family just because of the fact that there was already a playground there."

The site at 800 Lynn St. was purchased by the Salvation Army back in the early 2000s. The Salvation Army had proposed using the land for a shelter back then, but it faced backlash from the Brook Creek Neighborhood Association.

"I think you’re gonna have a repeat of that. I think that we’re 20 years ahead, so thankfully, hopefully, 20 years ahead, we’re gonna realize … but at the same time, they’re going to deal with NIMBYism," Wolsey said, referring to a "Not In My Back Yard" mindset.

The land was sold in December to Lynn St Development Company LLC, according to Douglas County property records.

It was not immediately clear Monday whether either site is currently zoned for shelter use. However, the city announced plans Monday to install a hygiene trailer at the North Lawrence campsite for people experiencing homelessness, noting that it and office and storage trailers recently added to the site are "in violation of current City code; however, both are being overlooked in the interest of public health and welfare and due to the temporary nature of the added facilities."

The timelines and next steps for these developments were unclear as of Monday. We will update this post if we get more information.

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Chansi Long (she/her), Lawrence life reporter, can be reached at clong (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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