Homeless shelter lawsuit dropped

BOISE – Downtown business owners have dropped their lawsuit against a temporary homeless shelter called Sanctuary.

Ada Vision Center and Fisher’s Vacuum Villa had filed suit Dec. 23, saying the shelter would hurt businesses and property values and would cause safety problems because of an increase in “the number of alcoholics, drug users and loiterers in the area,” according to court records. The vision center is next-door to the shelter.

Sanctuary spokesman Will Rainford said the shelter residents, about 60 each night, have not caused problems. He said homeless people loitered and slept in the area before Sanctuary moved in.

“It’s not that we introduced the element into the neighborhood,” he said. “They can’t pin that on us. The homeless are not a threat to their clients. We offer an element of shelter that wasn’t there before.”

The lawsuit also said the Interfaith Alliance of Idaho, the group of churches that operates the shelter, did not follow city planning and zoning rules. The group failed to get a conditional use permit for Sanctuary, the complaint says.

The group has requested the permit, and the city has scheduled a public hearing for Jan. 23. The city also has notified the group that it is operating in violation of city code but hasn’t taken steps to close the shelter.

Sixteen neighbors of Sanctuary sent a petition to the city to complain about the shelter, and several of them said they planned to testify at the public hearing. The lawsuit was dropped because the shelter will close March 31, and organizers said they will find a different site if there is a need for a shelter next winter.

“We figured that was our best option,” Taryn Daves, owner of Fisher’s Vacuum Villa, told the Idaho Statesman.

Neighbors said they noticed an increase in trash and loitering since Sanctuary opened Dec. 26, but Daves said shelter organizers and guests have walked around the neighborhood picking up trash.

Boise police have responded to one or two calls per day in the area, said department spokeswoman Lynn Hightower. Most calls were about loitering, urinating in public or open container violations.

“What the neighbors are telling us is they’re dealing with subjects who are intoxicated or hanging around the area,” Hightower said.