Shelter officials say they welcome work session with Kalispell City Council

Flathead Warming Center officials said Friday that they welcome discussing homelessness with Kalispell City Council just days after councilors agreed to review the overnight shelter’s conditional use permit in light of alleged complaints by neighbors. 

“We have always welcomed the hard conversations with our neighbors, overall community, law enforcement and the city of Kalispell,” nonprofit leaders said in a statement. “We look forward to this conversation in the spirit of a collaborative effort.”

Council approved a conditional use permit for the low barrier shelter on North Meridian Road in November 2020, allowing it to establish a permanent facility in an area zoned B-1 neighborhood business. Councilor Chad Graham, who led an effort last year to crack down on panhandling within city limits, told Council during an April 1 meeting that he had heard a litany of complaints about homeless people in the area by nearby residents and business owners. 

Although he did not give examples of bad behavior on the grounds of the Warming Center, he said that neighbors put up with a variety of annoyances, including allegedly threatening behavior, loitering and human feces. Graham asked that Council review the shelter’s permit at an upcoming work session with an eye to five areas he said were included in the facility’s application materials in 2020.

Those include an increase in homelessness in the neighborhood, loitering, responsiveness and accountability on the part of the Warming Center, an increase in police calls, and that the shelter would serve the Kalispell community, Graham said. 

“I want what I was told [in 2020] to be true,” Graham said. “I went through and I made a decision based off of what I was told and I want it adhered to.”

A review of the conditions of approval included in the staff report for the conditional use permit in 2020 has no mention of any of those topics, however. Staff recommended conditions instead call for the architecture of the facility to reflect those proposed and submitted, the securing of a building permit, parking space minimums, the extension of a sidewalk and occupancy limits. 

Graham said he hoped the work session would be followed by a public hearing featuring residents in and around the North Meridian Road corridor. Business owners in the area are afraid to speak out about the problems for fear of backlash, he told his colleagues.

The work session could occur as soon as May. 

Shelter officials acknowledge that some people “are displaying poor and alarming behaviors” across Kalispell, and asked that any future discussion be open to all residents of the city. 

“We are excited to have this opportunity to partner with our city officials and dive deeper into the true issues surrounding homelessness in our area, as well as confront some misconceptions,” the statement read. “We believe it is essential for our city and county officials to work with those organizations that provide a safety net for our vulnerable populations to protect every member of our community.”

On social media, Flathead County communications staff on Thursday celebrated Council’s effort, pointing to a letter commissioners issued last year describing homelessness “a lifestyle choice,” and called on residents to refrain from aiding homeless people and municipal officials to oppose any future shelters or shelter expansions. Shelters and other services only attract more homeless people, the commissioners argued in the missive.

“Hard conversations can solve hard problems, and to that end, Flathead County supports the Kalispell City Council’s future work session regarding the responsiveness and accountability of local shelters,” read a post from the county’s official Facebook account. “The board of commissioners addressed the urgency of not permitting new or expanding existing warming shelters back in January 2023.”

In the Warming Center’s statement, officials warned that attacking nonprofits and service groups would fail to address homelessness in the county. 

“Blaming those who are working directly with the homeless will not get our community to a solution,” they said in a statement. “Homelessness has become divisive and political when it should be a humanitarian issue. It should not be controversial to do the right thing.”

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.