City looks to build tiny homeless shelters 

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The Rochester City Council is set to vote on a $750,000 plan to build new shelters at Peace Village, the only homeless encampment sanctioned by the city.

Under the plan, introduced by City Council President Miguel Melendez, $460,000 would be used to install 15 small prefabricated shelters, a permanent bathroom, and a 400-square foot community space. The remaining $290,000 will be given to Person-Centered Housing Options, which will oversee the work.

The funds would come out of the unspent portions of the Rochester Police Accountability Board’s budget.

“The intention here is to be transitional, we don’t want to say, ‘You’re going to be here forever,’” Melendez said, in an interview Friday. “...The amenities might seem like they’re minimal, but they’re enough to help someone stabilize and not worry about some of the basic necessities. Are you going to be warm tonight? Are you going to be cool enough to sleep in the summer?”

The shelters would be made by Everett, Washington-based company Pallet and they cost about $11,000 apiece. The pre-made structures measure about 64 square feet. Each one has two beds, electricity, a heater, an air conditioner, and insulation. The units are built to hold a temperature of 70 degrees when the outside goes down to negative 20 degrees.

Throughout its history, Peace Village has been a threadbare operation.

The perimeter is surrounded by a ridge of grass speckled with rat tunnels, while bits of trash are scattered around the jagged rocks that cover the ground of the encampment.

The shelters themselves are mainly prefabricated sheds. The site has no plumbing, no electricity, and no permanent bathroom fixtures. A half-burned shed sits at the center of the camp, a remnant from a resident’s ill-fated attempt to heat up their shelter during a previous year’s winter.

Nick Coulter, co-founder of Person-Centered Housing Options, said the project would be a major step-up for Peace Village. However, there are many other site improvements, including fencing to prevent people from dumping their trash at the site, that are also needed.

The organization is currently in the process of clearing out the rats from the site.

“We’ve got to secure the property in a way that provides people more dignity while they’re transitioning to living in housing,” Coulter said.

Melendez said that if his legislation passes, the shelters could arrive in about eight weeks, although significant site improvements, including electricity, are needed before people could live in them. The goal is to have them up and running by fall of this year.

“There’s a lot of site infrastructure improvements that we’re still having conversations with the administration about how that will get done, and who will take the lead on those things,” Melendez said. “...We’re hoping that it can be finished by the next cold season.”

At a City Council committee meeting Wednesday, Councilmember Kim Smith expressed concern about whether the project could be completed by that time.

“The fall of 2023 would be great, but have you seen the condition of Peace Village now, and is that going to be realistic?” Smith said.

Coulter said he’s hopeful that if City Council approves the plan, the shelter could be up and running within the city’s anticipated timeframe. That process requires cooperation between the county, which typically manages Rochester’s homeless population; the city; City Roots Community Land Trust, which owns the land Peace Village stands on, and whatever other private contractors are needed.

“I could order them tomorrow and I bet if I had the right people in place to get it done, I could get it done sooner,” Coulter said. “...Everybody has to be involved and on task to get this done by Fall 2023.”

The move to adopt the Pallet shelters comes after a particularly tumultuous year for Rochester’s homeless population. In November, the city cleared an unsanctioned camp on Loomis Street, which was populated by about a dozen people living in tents on a vacant city-owned lot. All of the residents were active drug users, and several ended up relocating to Peace Village after the sweep.

Meanwhile, in September, the city awarded a $250,000 contract to Person-Centered Housing Options to perform street outreach at Peace Village.

“Housing is becoming a major challenge all over the place,” Melendez said. “We also have to figure out the options that we do have, how do we make sure the ones we do have are as dignified as possible, and that’s a separate track we need to continue talking about as a community at large.”

Gino Fanelli is a CITY staff writer. He can be reached at (585) 775-9692 or [email protected].