KALISPELL — The Kalispell City Council voted this week to revoke the permit of the Flathead Valley’s only low-barrier homeless shelter amid a rash of complaints from nearby residents about crime and other impacts.
The decision by the council to revoke the conditional-use permit on Monday night followed months of debate about the future of the Flathead Warming Center in Kalispell. The facility opened in late 2019 as a low-barrier shelter near downtown Kalispell. Kalispell has one other shelter, the Samaritan House. Many shelters require people staying there not to be using drugs or have a criminal background, but a low-barrier shelter does not have those requirements. It was open nightly from October until April. When the shelter first opened it had 20 beds, but later expanded to 50. Executive Director Tonya Horn said those beds were full almost every night, and the shelter often had to turn people away.
But since the shelter opened at its current location on North Meridian Road in 2020, there have been complaints about the facility and its impact on the surrounding area. During a previous meeting, City Council President Chad Graham said he had heard from constituents who had found human waste and drug paraphernalia in their neighborhood. He also alleged that the warming center was attracting more homeless people to the area, although officials with the Flathead Warming Center refute that claim. Graham said that ultimately a condition of the original permit was that the operation of the warming center have little impact on nearby residents and businesses.
Future in doubt for Kalispell shelter amid neighborhood complaints
Opponents of the shelter point to an increase in crime in the area since it opened in 2020, but proponents say the warming center shouldn’t be blamed for the Flathead Valley’s homelessness crisis that has grown amid a loss of services and a spike in home and rent prices.
Earlier this summer, the city council began considering revoking or changing the non-profit’s conditional-use permit. A vote was originally expected to take place in July, but then an effort was made to mediate a solution between the neighbors and the warming center without city involvement. As a result, the council decided to postpone any action for 60 days. But as that deadline approached, it was clear that the effort had failed.
On Monday night, Horn told the city council that the Flathead Warming Center could only address what happened on its property and that the homeless situation in Kalispell would only worsen if it were shut down.
“We are part of the solution to homelessness in the Flathead Valley and I say ‘part of’ for a reason,” she said. “We cannot solve this on our own.”
During public comment, community members on both sides had their say. Nearby residents talked about not feeling safe in their neighborhood since the shelter opened, while supporters of the shelter said it was a city-wide issue that wasn’t going to go away with inaction.
“Do you really think closing the Flathead Warming Center will actually solve the issue (of homelessness) throughout the city?” asked former mayor Pam Carbonari. “Closing the warming center will only move the problem elsewhere.”
Following nearly two hours of public comment and debate, the city council voted 6-3 to revoke the permit. Mayor Mark Johnson and councilors Kari Gabriel, Chad Graham, Sid Daoud, Jed Fisher and Sam Nunnally voted in favor, while councilors Sandy Carlson, Jessica Dahlman and Ryan Hunter opposed. Prior to his vote, Mayor Johnson said it was one of the toughest he had to make while on the council.
“I’m voting to revoke the permit and that’s not easy to do because it’s a needed service,” he said. “But I also know that the neighbors have been negatively impacted because it was not operated as promised.”
Councilman Fisher was even more succinct: “This sucks.”
In an interview with the Flathead Beacon, Horn said the warming center was evaluating its legal options following the vote.
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