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City wants beds, invisibility for the homeless

St. Petersburg wants street people out of sight and is working on an ordinance banning camping. But where would they find shelter?

By JON WILSON
Published February 12, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - The city would like homeless people out of sight.

At the same time, leaders say they don't want to be mean about it. They recognize that people on the street need somewhere to go, once they are moved along.

It sets up a problem:

There aren't enough emergency shelter beds to accommodate the homeless who would be chased away if the City Council adopts an ordinance banning camping on some downtown streets.

Pinellas County faces a shortage of 600 beds. Annual homeless census figures show more than half those counted live in St. Petersburg. So the city is short at least 300 beds, said Sarah Snyder, director of the county's Coalition for the Homeless.

Coalition members think the city is doing a good job in pushing for more beds and in developing a position for a homeless outreach coordinator, Snyder said.

"Our concern is putting an ordinance in place before we have a place for people to go," she said.

"We also believe the people living along the bayfront need to be in shelters. We're very concerned there's not going to be a place for them to stay," she said.

Snyder referred to people who for the past few months have camped out along Bayshore Drive near the Mahaffey Theater, where renovations are nearing completion. Typically 20 to 30 people have set up makeshift shelters, usually using cardboard, plastic bags and the occasional tent.

But others live on downtown streets also.

Their presence doesn't always go over well in the midst of a bustling era in which developers are producing or planning upscale condominiums and businesses from Beach Drive to 16th Street.

Mayor Rick Baker has asked the city's legal department to draft a no-camping ordinance aimed at removing homeless people from highly visible areas: Bayshore Drive, Beach Drive, Williams Park and Mirror Lake, for example.

Police would be required to offer an illegal campers a ride to a shelter, or simply a chance to pick up their belongings and move on.

"We seldom have any beds open anywhere in the county," Snyder said.

Both short-term and long-term projects are under way to find more beds.

For example, the city is working to make another 25 sleeping spots available at St. Vincent de Paul at 15th Street N and Fourth Avenue. Sophie Sampson, St. Vincent's Center for Hope director, said the center's dining hall can be used.

Other possible sites include the Salvation Army and Turning Point, the latter a facility for people with substance abuse problems, said Beth Eschenfelder, the city's social services manager.

"We're looking for everything we can think of," Eschenfelder said.

Another option that has a way to go before it could happen involves churches offering emergency shelters, Eschenfelder said.

Under such a plan, several churches might set up a rotating system in which each church would provide a shelter for a few weeks at a time.

"We don't know if we can pull that off," Eschenfelder said. But she said the city's Homeless Task Force is trying to set up a committee to examine the potential.

[Last modified February 12, 2006, 00:26:20]