Homeless 'Plague' In Bellevue: City Survey Reveals Fear, Bias

BELLEVUE, WA - He grew up in Clyde Hill, and he doesn't understand why the city would want to build a homeless shelter in an "affluent" place like Bellevue. The homeless will just walk around the city all day, he says, and that's a public safety concern.

"Why couldn't his be put in Seattle, Federal Way, Renton, Kent? Why an affluent community?" he wonders.

That's just one of hundreds of opinions from a survey Bellevue conducted in March about building a low-barrier shelter for men (you can view the full survey results by following this link). Hundreds of people who responded to the survey either oppose the shelter. Many more express fear, prejudice, and even hatred for the homeless.

Some residents said property values will drop. Others think crime will increase. The homeless should have to take drug tests and can't be allowed to look at pornography, another says. At least one person views the homeless as a "plague."

"Let Seattle look after the homeless. They seem to like the idea and just look at the success they have had. We don't need this same plague in Bellevue."

"Absolutely no drugs. Not even legal ones. No alcohol, no tobacco. Homeless people are not exempt from the law."

"Seattle and out of state people should not be accepted."

"[W]e will look like the 3rd world city that Seattle has become."

The survey, conducted in March, illustrates the political challenges of addressing homelessness while appeasing property owners. In January, the City Council renewed an emergency ordinance requiring anyone looking to open a homeless shelter to apply for a conditional land use permit. Such a permit allows the city to have more control over activity at a homeless shelter, should one be built.

City officials want to adopt a permanent land use permitting process for shelters before August. On Monday, the City Council looked at a proposed land use code for a homeless shelter.

During that same Council meeting, Bellevue police presented crime statistics for the winter homeless shelter, which is located in the Congregations for the Homeless building along 116th Avenue Northeast. Police reported that calls for service do rise during the winter at that location - but the rise in calls is similar to ones seen at any place where a large number of people are concentrated, including regular residential developments.

"Data for 2017 does not show a relationship between the presence of the homeless shelter and the crime rates for the surrounding area," the police reported to the Council.

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