The Richmond Planning and Zoning Commission continued discussion on a proposed zoning determination for overnight shelters and voted to table the item for additional drafting and outreach.

Staff said the draft language originally used the term “shelter for the homeless” but recommended replacing it with “overnight shelter” to avoid conflating daytime services with overnight accommodations. Staff also suggested the commission consider broader language that would apply to all shelter-related services or to businesses that provide shelter-like services, whether nonprofit or for‑profit, so the regulations would be consistent across providers.

Margaret Sites, a board member at Madison Home, asked the commission to table the matter again so Madison Home could review the proposed regulations and comment. She described Madison Home as “one of the only overnight shelters in Richmond” and said the organization currently provides meals, showers, laundry, a clothing closet and case management and intends to operate as an overnight shelter for the winter months (December through March).

A speaker identified as the founder of Medicine Home said the organization is incorporated as a church and expects it should receive the same protections as other churches; the speaker described ongoing annual fire inspections and said Medicine Home has not had compliance issues.

Commissioners and staff discussed several substantive questions raised by the public: whether existing shelters would be grandfathered (staff said they would be existing nonconforming uses), what inspections or certificates of occupancy would apply, whether churches providing temporary shelter should be treated differently, and whether to require development and accessibility standards for expanded facilities. Staff recommended creating a clear definition section in the draft ordinance that states what types of services and facilities the regulation would cover.

Multiple commissioners and staff recommended more community outreach, mapping existing providers (staff said planning would use GIS to identify preexisting facilities), and clarifying whether the regulation should apply to daytime services as well as overnight facilities. After discussion, a motion to table the draft ordinance passed by roll call (recorded as unanimous among members present), giving staff time to revise the language and meet with stakeholders before returning the item to the agenda.

The transcript records no formal ordinance number or detailed code language; staff said that any ordinance adopted would not retroactively close facilities that predate the ordinance but that if a permitted use ceased for a year, the site could revert to the ordinance then in effect.