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PASCO -- Tri-City Union Gospel Mission officials say city plans for the Lewis Street overpass will mean the end of Thanksgiving and Christmas food boxes for the needy.
That's because the project, which will remove buildings from most of a two-block downtown area, will cost the mission two buildings and a large storage container it uses for maintenance and to store food, furniture and other donations.
Donald Porter, mission executive director, said the agency found out last month that its properties are among 26 the city wants to buy for the Lewis Street overpass project, which would replace an aging railroad underpass.
The storage building at 115 N. Second Ave. and the maintenance building at 231 N. Second Ave. are across from the mission's men's and women's shelters. The two lots also provide the mission's only off-street parking and have the storage container.
Porter said mission officials plan to question the need for the city to take those properties because it appears the overpass will go around them.
Gary Crutchfield, Pasco city manager, said the city wouldn't purchase the properties if it didn't need them, but he didn't elaborate.
The overpass will increase public safety, he said, and has to be done. The aging underpass shows signs of wear, and is so narrow that if two school buses pass going under it, their side mirrors will be clipped off.
But removing buildings in the two-block area between Clark and Lewis streets and North Second and Tacoma avenues means the loss of vital storage space for the mission, Porter said.
Most of the mission's food is stored in the 3,500-square-foot former bus depot. On one day last week, it housed a freezer full of meat and 14 pallets of dry food.
Jerry Jones, mission food services manager, said the nonprofit wouldn't be able to accept large quantities of donations without the building. "The loss of that freezer would just be detrimental," he said.
The mission serves about 5,500 meals a month and gives food boxes to 60 families each week. Without the storage space, the nonprofit also wouldn't be able to prepare and offer holiday food boxes to area needy families.
This year, the mission gave away 300 boxes for each holiday, Jones said.
The mission also provides clothing and household items to area families and shelter residents. Dawn Howell, assistant women's services director, said she has 250 families signed up to choose clothes. She ended last year with 500 families.
The mission's shelters are packed and don't have room to replace the storage facility. The mission is averaging 85 men and 28 women and children each night, said Byron Brooks, men's facility director.
About 30 to 35 men sleep on the floor of the chapel each night because the beds are full, Porter said. The mission also needs room for more beds at the women's shelter, he said.
The nonprofit bought the former bus depot to build a warehouse, Porter said. But city changes to the central business zoning halted that plan. With the zoning change, a social service agency warehouse would require a special permit. It's a permit the nonprofit isn't sure the city would approve, he said.
"The city is not inclined to have us in this area," Porter said.
The limitations on social service agencies and churches in the zoning law were intended to increase the retail viability of the area and to deal with downtown's past problems with crime and decay. Some social service agencies can have secondary effects that adversely affect the retail areas, Crutchfield said.
The city recently hired HDR Engineering for $442,000 to begin the process of buying the land and starting the relocation process for the $25 million project.
Crutchfield said he would be pleased if the city can find money for the $31 million overpass project in the next three years. The city hopes to get a total of $13 million each from the state and federal governments and use $5 million of city money for it.
"We've got a long ways to go," he said.
At a February public meeting, Bob Alberts, city public works director, said the city hopes to have agreements with all of the landowners by May 2011.
Porter said the mission plans to talk with the city and see if their property really is needed for the project. If it is, they hope to get as much as they can for the properties so they can afford to replace them.
