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NW Facility to Be Scaled Down, but Neighbors Say Cut Is Not Enough
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D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said the change in zoning would give the neighborhood's residents the chance to influence Central Union's project.
"What this guarantees is community engagement," he said. "We didn't have any. I was told by the mission that they are coming as a matter of right. Get accustomed to it. Now it's a night-and-day difference, and it's beginning to sink in to our friends at Central Union."
Graham predicted that a review of the proposed zoning regulations, as well as possible appeals, could delay the project months, if not years.
Graham characterized Treadwell's plan to reduce the number of beds as "movement," but he added: "It's not enough." The council member said the mission should remain at its current headquarters, a sentiment echoed by a homeless advocate.
"Given the fact that it's difficult to move, why take that on?" said Mary Ann Luby, outreach coordinator at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, adding that she was not speaking for her organization. "These battles are not won and lost quickly."
But Treadwell said that the mission cannot remain at its Logan Circle address because it has entered into an agreement to sell the property to a developer.
"It's out of the question," he said. "We have a contract."
As for reducing the number of beds to 40, Treadwell said that number would not meet the community's needs.
"I don't see any way we can go below 100 beds," he said, adding that "I don't like to be the one who says never. Things happen; things change. We're in the business of trying to help the city."
