KGMI News
by Tracy Ellis
BELLINGHAM, WASH. – There won’t be a new homeless shelter on Bellingham’s waterfront after all.
The Port of Bellingham decided to buy the city-owned Roeder Avenue property slated to be the site of a shelter.
Port Commissioners Dan Robbins and Bobby Briscoe voted to purchase the land for $765,000.
They say the vote does not mean there won’t be any new homeless shelter, just that the water-dependent businesses already at the location will remain intact.
The five marine-trade businesses on the property would’ve been forced to move.
The City hoped to team up with the Lighthouse Mission to operate a low-barrier shelter.
It would have been open to all adults and their pets even if the person was under the influence of drugs and-or alcohol.
That didn’t sit well with working waterfront advocates.