Emergency Shelter Application

APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS

Church at the Park has filed an application for development of an emergency shelter under House Bill (HB) 3395 (2023). The City Council is the local decision making body on this application and will hold a public hearing and receive written and oral testimony on the application. The application will proceed under the following process:

City staff will review the preliminary application to determine application completeness
After the application has been determined to be complete, a public hearing will be scheduled
Public notices will be distributed (see noticing process below)
Online registration to sign up to testify orally to the City Council will open (see registration guidelines below)
Public hearing will be held
- It is expected that the public hearing will occur over several meetings to accommodate all of the oral testimony
City Council will make a decision
- The City Council decision may be appealed to the Polk County Circuit Court

APPLICATION REVIEW CRITERIA

Church at the Park has filed an application for development of an emergency shelter under HB 3395 (2023). That bill says a local government shall approve an application for an emergency shelter on any property, notwithstanding any land use regulation, zoning ordinance or comprehensive plan, if the emergency shelter meets these criteria:

Includes sleeping and restroom facilities for clients.
Will comply with applicable building codes.
Is located in an urban growth boundary.
Is not in a flood plain or area mapped for environmental health hazards or other natural disasters or hazards.
Has adequate transportation access to commercial and medical services.
Will not pose any unreasonable risk to public health and safety.
Is operated by a qualified organization, including a religious corporation, with at least two years’ experience operating an emergency shelter using best practices.

These criteria are the only criteria on which the City Council may base its decision on the application. The decision of the City Council is subject to appeal to circuit court, in which case a judge would determine if the City Council’s decision was lawful, based on the facts and the criteria.

Written and oral testimony in this hearing should be factual and should address how this application meets or does not meet the criteria. While all testimony is welcome, opinion testimony and testimony about anything else other than this application and these criteria cannot be relied on by the City Council and will not help the City Council make its decision.

PUBLIC NOTICING

Church at the Park has filed an application for development of an emergency shelter under HB 3395 (2023). The City Council will hold a duly-advertised public hearing and make a decision on the request. The City Council has determined the public noticing will include:

A written public notice will be published and distributed to all city utility billing customers
A written public notice will be published and mailed to the property owners of properties within 300 feet of the proposed development site
A written public notice will be published in the local newspaper for two successive weeks prior to the public hearing

The public notices will be distributed concurrently, where possible. For the utility billing customers, the notice will be mailed with your city bill on either the 10th or 25th of the month when notices are sent.

REGISTER TO TESTIFY ORALLY

Church at the Park has filed an application for development of an emergency shelter under HB 3395 (2023). The City Council will hold a public hearing and accept written and oral testimony at the hearing. In order to testify orally, you will need to register online prior to the first public hearing. The online registration form will be made available after the application has been determined to be complete, the hearing date has been scheduled and public notices have started to be distributed. Please check back frequently on this web page for a link to the online registration form.

If you register to testify, we will notify you of the date and time on which to appear before the Council on this matter. You will be given two (2) minutes to testify orally. If you are unable to attend the hearing on the night you are assigned, you will be rescheduled. Each testifier will be given only one opportunity to reschedule. If you fail to attend the hearing for which you have been scheduled and did not contact us to reschedule, you forfeit your ability to testify orally on this matter.

SUBMITTING WRITTEN TESTIMONY

Church at the Park has filed an application for development of an emergency shelter under HB 3395 (2023). The City council will hold a public hearing and accept written and oral testimony at the hearing. Written testimony will be accepted only after the application has been determined to be complete, the hearing has been scheduled and public notices have started to be distributed. Please check back frequently on this web page to see when written testimony will be accepted and how to submit written testimony on this matter.

Any written testimony received prior to the City accepting written testimony will not be included in the public record.