Tent City Snag

Uh, oh.   Tent City has hit a snag.  The zoning commission has turned down the request to amend zoning to permit the use of that land as a homeless shelter or "tent city."  Which means that unless the city council overrules the zoning commission, tent city at 13th & Ave. A will come to an end.

Sad.  That seemed to me (and to others) to be the perfect location.   Not too far from soup kitchens and other services yet a long way from any residences and mostly near fenced-in businesses like UPS and Mrs. Baird's Bakery.  A place near Mackenzie Park, the South Plains Fairground which is unused most of the year, and large vacant weedy spaces.    Literally a place on the other side of the tracks.    No more isolated location exists in town.

There is no other location in the city limits, and probably not in the county, that could be expected to raise less opposition from those nearby.  

Yet even the 13th & A location ruffled some feathers, and several businesses raised objections to tent city.

Maybe it was the stabbing that occurred in the neighborhood.  Perhaps there were trespasses and break-ins, though it is quite unproved that any at tent city were involved.

Surely the city council will overturn the zoning decision.  But considering the composition of the council., they well may.    There are two councilpersons I trust, more or less, and those are Klein and Hernandez.  The others, well, let's just say I'd hide my wallet and fancy pen and put on body armor before going near them. 

If the council does uphold the zoning commission decision, then where do we go from here?   Back to sleeping in parks, as some are doing anyway.  Tents in parks in the winter.  Pressure on the city to provide some kind of shelter.  

The Salvation Army has raised a lot of money for a track program to shelter a limited number of the homeless and provide reentry to the workforce.  If it is like most Salvation Army programs, it will be restrictied in scope and very expensive per person helped.  So the pressure will remain on the city and public to do something.

Hell of a lot cheaper and less nuisance to Lubbockites just to have a tent city where it is.