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Staff recommends defining and allowing low‑barrier navigation centers as 'uses by right' in mixed‑use and residential zones
Summary
Planning staff proposed adding a definition for low‑barrier navigation centers and allowing them by right where multifamily residential uses are permitted; the commission discussed allowing them in some commercial zones subject to conditional use permits.
Senior Planner Salifu Yakubu said the proposed code will add a new definition for low‑barrier navigation centers and allow them by right in mixed‑use and residential zones. He summarized the three distinguishing elements: connecting people to permanent housing, using a homeless‑management information system, and following Housing First principles. "The low barrier navigation centers should offer services that connect people to permanent housing," he said.
Commissioners sought clarity about where such uses would be allowed in commercial areas and whether plan‑review and conditional use processes would apply in commercial zones that do not otherwise permit multifamily uses. Staff recommended allowing low‑barrier navigation centers by right where residential uses are allowed and using conditional use permits for commercial zones where multifamily is otherwise not allowed.
