Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homeless Services Shelter Expansion topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Atascadero council hears neighborhood concerns over ECHO expansion, leaves meal-cap tied to occupancy
Summary
City officials and ECHO leaders described steps taken after the shelter’s expansion was approved; council kept the permit conditions in place and directed staff to report back in six months on enforcement and corridor impacts.
Atascadero — The City Council on Tuesday heard an extended presentation and public comment on the El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) expansion and associated changes to its meal and shower programs, and left existing permit conditions in place while asking staff for a status update in six months.
Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore said the council previously approved amendments that increased overnight beds, the meal program and shower hours and included a condition requiring ECHO to hold neighborhood meetings and expand notification. “Attached to your staff report is sort of some background minutes of those meetings and some of those action items that they intend to do to comply,” Dunsmore told the council.
The hearing drew residents who said an open meal service at ECHO has increased foot traffic and encampments in a downtown corridor near Atascadero Creek and local schools. Chief Settles described enforcement and outreach efforts, saying fentanyl and other synthetic drug activity have increased regionally and that the police department has created a special enforcement team to pursue suspected dealers. “We do have a plan for cleanups,” he said, adding that the city is focused on a downtown corridor and that outreach and enforcement are a “multi-pronged” effort.
Wendy Lewis, ECHO’s director, outlined changes the nonprofit has made after neighborhood meetings: holding two neighbor meetings rather than one, expanding mailed notices, increasing litter patrols in the corridor, limiting to‑go meals and increasing outreach case management. On the project timeline she said state-approved plans are in hand and “we could potentially have a groundbreaking in the next 2 to 3 to 4 months and the actual physical construction has about a 20 month timeline for building and assembling on-site.”
The council noted the original land-use condition that tied any increase in the meal program to the occupancy of the expanded shelter. As recorded in the staff report, the council reiterated that the maximum for the meal program (100 persons) will take effect “on the issuance of the certificate of occupancy for the expanded shelter services.”
After public comment from neighbors and multiple ECHO supporters who described the shelter’s role in rehousing clients, council members agreed not to reopen the conditional use permit tonight. Instead they asked staff to monitor corridor conditions and return with a focused report in six months on enforcement, trash removal, shopping-cart containment efforts and other mitigation steps. The council indicated it would expect regular neighborhood outreach from ECHO and said it supported continuing the established condition that links any meal-cap increase to the shelter’s certificate of occupancy.
The council did not take additional regulatory action at the meeting. Staff and councilmembers emphasized continuing partnership among ECHO, police, outreach teams and residents as the facility moves toward construction and expanded services.
