Residents Wary of Relocating Homeless Shelter Near Senior Center

PHOTO: Lincolnia Senior Center, Fairfax County; photo courtesy of Fairfax County

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FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- A group of concerned citizens is hoping to get the attention of the powers that be in Fairfax County to stop the relocation of a homeless shelter in Bailey's Crossroads to a new spot next door to a senior center in the Lincolnia area.

The move is being proposed so that a new residential development can go up at the site of the current homeless shelter along Columbia Pike and Moncure Avenue.

Supervisor Penny Gross had said that a Q&A about the homeless shelter move, based on a recent community meeting, would be posted online before the Mason District Land Use Committee (MDLUC) discusses the shelter at its April 26 meeting. It appears that meeting has been cancelled, according to Gross' home page.

Residents' concerns include the amount of money being spent by the county, the location of the homeless shelter near a senior center and homes, the possibility for crime, as well as the community not being given much advance warning about the plans.

Here's what they have to say, in a petition signed by 365 supporters on change.org:

"Fairfax County intends to move a homeless shelter from Bailey's Crossroads to the land adjacent to the Lincolnia Senior Center. What is Fairfax County thinking?"

Location where county wants to move homeless shelter:

Here's more about the deal, from the petition:

"The temporary facility is proposed to be located in the field behind the Lincolnia Senior Center, 4710 North Chambliss Street, Alexandria. The approximately 50-bed shelter for men and women who are homeless would operate in a pre-manufactured, modular structure. County officials say they expect the homeless shelter would be located at this site for the next four to five years until a permanent homeless shelter location can be secured. At this point, the County has no idea where that permanent location may be.

The project is part of a complicated proposed land swap/acquisition among three entities, Fairfax County, AvalonBay Communities, Inc., and 5827 Columbia Pike Associates, LLC. In a nutshell the County will swap land with AvalonBay so the company can develop the corner of Columbia Pike and Moncure Avenue in Bailey's Crossroads. They intend to build upscale apartments on the site so the homeless will have to be moved.

The County will/has bought the property from 5827 Columbia Pike Associates at a cost of $6.35 million, with $880,000 for the buildings demolition. The Bailey's Crossroads Community Shelter is currently located on the site that AvalonBay wants to develop. In order for the County/AvalonBay land swap deal to go forward, the county must relocate the homeless shelter.

The county wants to relocate the homeless shelter temporarily (5 years) in our neighborhood near the intersection of North Chambliss and Lincolnia Road.

Many of your neighbors are opposed for a number of reasons.

1. First and foremost is the imminent danger to the seniors at the Lincolnia Senior Center. We believe they are being put at risk because of the greed of Fairfax County. The homeless facility will be located directly behind the senior center in the field that the seniors use now to exercise and to breathe fresh air.

The homeless shelter residents must pass the Senior Center for ingress and egress when they are put out on the street at 9:00 AM (the same time many activities start at the Senior Center) and when the shelter residents are allowed to re-enter the shelter at 4:00 PM. However, they do not have to be back in the shelter until later in the evening and on weekends they don't have to be in until 10:00 PM.

High crime statistics are well-documented in and around homeless shelters so erecting the shelter near some of the most vulnerable in our society, our seniors, puts them in imminent danger. Some of the seniors have problems with mobility, are frail, sick or have dementia and are defenseless against someone who may want to rob or harm them. What is Fairfax County thinking?

2. Instead of protecting the homeless, Fairfax County wants to uproot them and put the in "temporary housing" for five years or so. The homeless shelter in Bailey's was built by the neighbors in the 1980's in response to a homeless person freezing to death on the street. Their grassroots efforts to protect the homeless are admirable. But now the county wants to uproot the residents because AvalonBay doesn't want homeless people in their new development. The county plans to move them next to our seniors! What is Fairfax County thinking?

3. The county is wasting our tax money, paying $6.35 million for 5827 Columbia Pike, $880K for demolition, $2.1 million to build the "temporary" structure and $400K a year to run the "temporary" homeless facility. In addition there will be the expense of tearing down the "temporary" shelter in five years and erecting a new shelter on another site.

They have done all this under the table, and the first that anyone heard of the whole scheme was in January but it wasn't common knowledge until a community meeting many neighbors attended on April 11th. In May the Planning Commission will vote on the proposal. We were told by Penny Gross that it was hard to get the word out to the community because she only has a limited number of email addresses. It is curious though, that she is able to find us when she wants to ask for our vote! What is Fairfax County thinking?

Other concerns:

The neighbors who attended the April 11th meeting brought up many concerns from the safety of their children walking to one of two nearby elementary schools, to the loss of the field the neighbors and the seniors enjoy for leisure activities.

They cited the fear of destabilizing a neighborhood that has been growing and getting stronger for the last ten years, and they wondered at the rationale of housing homeless people who may have substance abuse problems right across the street from Total Wine and a state liquor store. There were so many concerned neighbors who wanted to voice their opposition at the April 11th meeting that it ran more than an hour overtime! The speakers included everyone from seniors to children and all in between.

For more information contact: Dennise@DenniseFath.com or https://sites.google.com/site/stoptheshelter2016/

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION WHICH WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE FAIRFAX COUNTY GOVERNMENT. THE PETITIONERS DISAGREE WITH THE DECISION TO ERECT A HOMELESS SHELTER NEXT TO THE LINCOLNIA SENIOR CENTER AND WE WONDER WHAT FAIRFAX COUNTY IS THINKING!"