Work session on homeless shelter should focus on permit, Graham says

Kalispell City Councilor Chad Graham said Monday that he expected an upcoming work session on the Flathead Warming Center’s conditional use permit to be limited in participation and scope.

“It [is] a discussion with the City Council about the review of the conditional use permit of the Warming Center,” said Graham, who requested the measure April 1 while citing alleged neighborhood complaints about the overnight North Meridian Road shelter. “It’s a land use review.”

Graham had told his colleagues at the previous meeting that neighborhood residents, particularly business owners, regularly suffered indignities at the hands of homeless people. Those included threatening behavior, human waste and loitering, he said.