Seaside City Council mulling over homeless shelter

The Seaside City Council took time to hear residents on Thursday about a proposed homeless shelter at a vacant Monterey County-owned office trailer off Broadway Avenue.

Many residents in the area near the shelter did not even seem to know the city is planning a shelter just down the street from their homes.

The trailer where the proposed shelter will be is sitting empty right now. The city and county want to take advantage of some state funding available to help the homeless.

“I support that. I support that and I agree with that because it’s so hard to look at homeless people. They sleep under especially this kind of weather,” said Sarah Faavesi, a Seaside resident

Other neighbors do not see it that way and said having the shelter there would only bring more problems to the area. They complain it is too close to their homes and there are other places to put the homeless.

“This town has always been for helping people from around because this is one town that came in with the military and grew the military, so we had a lot of people who were different,” said one homeless man who did not want to be named.

The homeless man lives with others in a parking lot near the Chili’s in Seaside. He is just surprised it has taken so long to get a shelter going on the peninsula.

“There will be a time where something similar is going to come across your way and then you have a resource of something, someone that will be there to help you,” said the homeless man.

While he thinks many cities are trying to do their part in helping the homeless, he thinks more shelters are definitely needed, and some residents agree.

“Here we are that we have our own people that needs help. And here we are,” said Faavesi. “Homeless people, parents with their children. How can we just sleep good in and there they are outside in the cold? I agree and I support that.”

Seaside Police say there are many spots in town where the homeless like to camp, but the shelter would be used for homeless from all over the peninsula.

UPDATE: The city council decided to continue the discussion at a special meeting on Wednesday Feb. 27. The city clerk says there are still more votes to take before the shelter is a done deal.