OC to Get a Year-Round Homeless Shelter

By PAUL ANDERSON

The Orange County Board of Supervisors have unanimously approved the acquisition of property for a year-round, full-time homeless shelter in Anaheim.

Twice before, the board seemed poised to replace its seasonal, temporary homeless shelter in Fullerton only to have public opposition sink it.

The supervisors heard comments Tuesday from dozens of people for nearly four hours, most of whom supported the acquisition of the commercial property at 1000 N. Kraemer Place, which is next to a strip club and a Riverside (91) Freeway onramp.

Multiple residents in nearby neighborhoods and business owners opposed a shelter in the area, complaining that it would boost crime and other problems.

Supervisor Shawn Nelson countered that it was not possible to find a perfectly isolated place to serve the homeless.

“There is no site, zero, that isn’t near people and a school, but that’s part of living in an urban community,” Nelson said. “And (the homeless) problem is going to be near us whether it’s this building or not.”

Nelson said another hurdle for finding an isolated spot is the prohibition in most industrial parks on any residential uses.

Nelson criticized the neighbors who appear not to mind a “strip club on steroids,” but “somebody’s hungry and needs a shower. We can’t have that in the neighborhood.”

Board Chairman Todd Spitzer, who represents the area where the 200-bed shelter will be located, said he struggled with the issue.

“This is a very difficult thing for me to do because I know what’s the right thing to do, but I also know the (political) consequences,” Spitzer said. “I’m so torn because I don’t want to hurt the local businesses. But if we do it here and do it right ... we can do this and solve the homeless problem. If we don’t do it right, we will not build another homeless shelter anywhere else in this county.”

Nelson, who downplayed the fears of neighbors by noting he lived next to the Fullerton temporary shelter for years and did not see the issues they predicted, replied that today’s vote was an easy call for him.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Nelson said. “You do the right thing when offered the opportunity. That’s what serving the public is all about.”

The property is next door to the Piano Empire Megastore at 3035 E. La Mesa St., whose owner, Chris Vance, criticized the supervisors for never touring his store as he requested.

George Shaffer -- owner of UDC Corp., an industrial and commercial contractor -- said his company has been at 1041 Kraemer Place for 28 years and he, too, objected to the shelter.

“Who is going to pay for one of my truck drivers if they hit one of those homeless people who can’t get in and are walking around,” Shaffer said. “It’s ridiculous. I’m not against the homeless. I’m a veteran, but there’s other buildings, other places this can be put in, other than 1000 Kraemer Place.”

Last year, the board thought it had an agreement with Santa Ana to open a shelter in an industrial area at 1217 E. Normandy Place, but Santa Ana City Council members took back their endorsement when pressured by neighbors.

In 2013, county officials figured they had located an ideal site in a shuttered furniture store in Fullerton, but, again, the city council there voted it down by a 3-2 margin due to neighborhood opposition.

During the winter, most of the area’s chronically homeless rely on the county’s Armor Emergency Shelter Program, which has about 400 beds in Fullerton, but has to close when it gets warmer.

Nelson said another advantage of a year-round shelter is it would provide more long-term assistance to transients to help them get a leg up toward self-support. The county’s homeless population is estimated at 4,500.

The 24,384-square-foot Kraemer Place warehouse and 13,824-square-foot office space was built in 1975 on 1.86 acres, and was previously home to a commercial heating, ventilating and air-conditioning contractor.

The $4.25 million purchase price for the building was approved by board in June.

City News Service