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Planning board backs permanent STEP code but recommends removing nuisance‑language clause
Summary
The planning board recommended adoption of permanent STEP (supportive/transitional/emergency permanent housing) code with a small clarification for indoor emergency shelters and suggested removing a clause that tied nuisance/criminal behavior expectations directly into the STEP chapter.
City planning staff told the committee the permanent STEP ordinance — required to implement state housing law changes for emergency and supportive housing — largely tracks the interim ordinance the council adopted earlier this year, with a limited clarification intended to avoid overlap between STEP rules and the city’s indoor emergency shelter code.
Planning staff said they reviewed cross‑references across code chapters and added a short paragraph directing indoor emergency shelters operated by religious organizations or located in local public facilities to the existing indoor emergency shelter chapter standards rather than to STEP, avoiding ambiguity over which code applies to those specific indoor uses.
The planning board review recommended removing proposed subsection 17125030(b) — language that would have explicitly referenced nuisance, criminal behavior and expectations — not because the council could not address public‑safety concerns, but because the board felt such enforcement and nuisance authority is better handled in other, citywide code chapters or in MOUs with operators rather than embedded in the STEP land‑use chapter.
A public hearing on the permanent STEP code is scheduled for next Monday (the transcript record: “the 20 first”), with final council action tentatively scheduled for early May (staff indicated an adoption target of May 6 in the briefing).
Ending: The committee received the update. Staff will present the revised permanent STEP ordinance to the public at the scheduled hearing and return to council for final action after the planning board’s recommendation.
