Kenmore City Council Blocks Low Barrier Housing Project

Breaking

Kenmore City Council votes 6-1 to block controversial Plymouth Housing project (@PlymouthHousing) from coming into downtown.

Angry residents claimed it was pitched as affordable housing for veterans and senior citizens. But then it got switched to housing for the chronically homeless and drug addicted individuals. Bottom line, Kenmore is saying “housing first” is a failure and the “low barrier” free for all drug culture will not be tolerated. This could set a precedent for other King County cities facing similar proposals from other housing providers. Numerous people said, “We don’t want to become the next Seattle.”

FINAL VOTE:

Nigel Herbig-No

David Baker-No

Angela Kugler-No

Joe Marshall-No

Melanie O’Cain-No

Debra Srebnik-No

Corina Pfeil-Yes

The other part of the story, this council meeting went nearly eight hours and ended at 3am on Tuesday. The public comment portion of the evening/morning was emotionally charged and people came in from places like Seattle and Burien to share their perspectives.

Bait and Switch

The Kenmore City Council meeting is expected to be packed this evening. Dozens of angry neighbors accuse city leaders of trying to quietly ram through a Plymouth Housing project for the homeless, expected to go up at the corner of NE Bothell Way and 67th Ave NE. It’s just minutes away from the busy downtown core. It was initially pitched as housing for veterans and senior citizens. Since it’s “low barrier,” there is now concern crime will spike in the area and open air drug use will pour into the streets.

Another twist to this story, Kenmore Mayor Nigel Herbig (@nigelherbig) is also Intergovernmental Relations Manager at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. Critics say he should recuse himself from any votes related to this 100 unit housing project. But so far, Herbig refusing to do that. Meeting starts at 7pm. Expect fiery public comment.