Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Frontier Road resident urges town to create daytime shelter and homeless coalition
Summary
A Frontier Road resident told the council that the former Anciano Senior Building reopened as an overnight shelter has led to daytime encampments, trash and bonfires near her neighborhood and asked the town to lead a coalition to identify a legal daytime location and services.
A longtime Frontier Road resident told the Town of Taos Council that an overnight shelter occupying the old Anciano Senior Building has led to persistent daytime encampments, increased trash, carts left on the street and occasional bonfires near her property.
Leanne Clamuro, who said she and her husband operate a bed-and-breakfast on Frontier Road, said the shelter’s current model — overnight-only — leaves people with no daytime space to store belongings or access daytime services and asked the council to form a homeless coalition to coordinate local nonprofits and service providers. “I’m requesting that the town council seriously consider establishing a homeless coalition board to work with Dream Tree Project, CAD, Saint James, Youth Heartline, etcetera, to come with a legal location possibly on the outskirts along the town city limits where the homeless can get to during the day along with all their belongings,” Clamuro said.
Clamuro described repeated calls to the fire department over bonfires and said neighbors fear accidental fires. She asked the council to help identify a daytime location where people can keep belongings and receive services, and to provide support for those who cannot stay overnight at the shelter for “different reasons.”
Why it matters: the speaker framed the issue as both a neighborhood public-safety and quality-of-life concern and a service-delivery gap for people experiencing homelessness. Clamuro asked the council to coordinate a response that involves nonprofit partners and to consider locating daytime services near the town edge so they are accessible while limiting disruption in established residential blocks.
Council and staff response: staff did not present a formal motion during the meeting. The item was raised during citizens forum; the council did not adopt an immediate policy change in the Feb. 11 session. Clamuro said neighbors have repeatedly contacted the fire department and called out specific problem locations across from her property and near the Taos Valley Lodge.
Next steps (requested by speaker): formation of a homeless coalition board and exploration of a legal daytime site coordinated with local nonprofits and service providers. No formal council vote or staff assignment with a deadline was recorded in the Feb. 11 transcript.
