Homeless housing complex planned in Pasco. Neighbors say not in their backyard

Dozens of east Pasco residents are protesting a proposed housing development for chronically homeless people.

Catholic Charities Eastern Washington wants to build a four-story, 52-unit facility on the east side of Heritage Boulevard, between East Lewis and East “A” streets.

The Spokane-based religious organization has offered to buy the city property at full price for $127,400.

Jonathan Mallahan, Catholic Charities’ vice president of housing, says the project is similar to facilities built in Yakima and Spokane but distinct from other services already provided in Pasco.

It would be known as Pasco Haven.

A permanent supportive housing facility “is an integrated housing model that takes people who have experienced chronic homelessness — those are individuals who have been homeless for an extended period of time and have a qualifying disability — and gives them housing without barriers,” Mallahan recently told the Pasco City Council.

“Essentially it says, ‘We’re going to house you first, and then we’re going to work on things that are contributing to you experiencing homelessness and we’re going to improve your wellness.’”

On-site services for residents

Mallahan acknowledged that the people who will be served by the federally funded facility are suffering from behavior illnesses and substance abuse disorders, and that a number of them will come from outside the Tri-Cities.

But he says there will be services on-site to address the residents’ issues so they don’t have to leave home to get help.

“We believe strongly that people deserve the dignity of housing, and permanent supportive housing is the way we accomplish that,” he said.

“Robust safety and security protocol” will be in place in both the design and operations.

That includes everything from strategically placed lighting, shrubbery and web-enabled security cameras to key fobs given to police and emergency services so they can enter the facility any time they wish, said Mallahan.

But residents in surrounding neighborhoods say they don’t want the development in their backyard, and question why they didn’t earlier hear about it from their district representative, Councilman Ruben Alvarado.

A large group, both in favor and against, spoke out during last week’s council meeting and plan to return Tuesday.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at Pasco City Hall, 525 N. Third Ave.

A motion is before council members to approve the property sale and authorize City Manager Dave Zabell to sign the documents.

Neighbors petition against

Resident Demetris Kinsey says he lives on Anaconda Avenue, seven houses down from the proposed facility. One resident who does not have a perimeter fence would look right out her back patio window at the building, he said.

Kinsey says the whole neighborhood is opposed to the development because it will impinge on their privacy, affect their property values and bring potential other problems to the area.

Catholic Charities Eastern Washington says they distributed fliers to nearby homes informing them of the proposed project, but Kinsey says he and his neighbors never received the notification.

He told the Tri-City Herald that a petition is circulating and has already gathered a couple hundred signatures encouraging Pasco council members to oppose the property sale.

He questioned why Catholic Charities couldn’t pick a location elsewhere in Pasco, other than the eastside.

“I’m opposed to it because — I want to reiterate, I’m not against the homeless. I want to help the homeless. I’m against the exploitation of profit for the homeless in my neighborhood,” Kinsey said.

“I don’t want to come out of my house for the next 20, 30 years of paying my mortgage and every day being reminded of it. ... I’m not going to stand for them to build that in east Pasco,” he added. “I do not want this building in our neighborhood. That’s the bottom line, and the city council should hear that.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 2:47 PM.