PORTLAND (WMTW/ Portland Press Herald)-
A large crowd packed the gym at Breakwater School Thursday night to discuss the city’s proposal to build a new $10 million 200- bed emergency homeless shelter on Brighton Avenue to replace the Oxford Street Shelter.
The Portland Press Herald reports that many of the residents attending were hostile towards city staff and elected officials over the proposal
City officials claim most shelter users are in and out in a few weeks or months, and that most of the people who cause problems in the Bayside neighborhood are not users of the shelter.
Some residents, on the other hand, are concerned about increased drug use, untreated mental illness, and the increasing crime rate in the Bayside neighborhood, which they claim that police have not been able to address, as well as encampments popping up in the woods near the proposed shelter, and the neighborhood becoming dangerous to children.
The 154-bed Oxford Street Shelter has been operating over capacity for several years, and the need for overflow space is common.
The next meeting on the proposed shelter will be held on Tuesday at 5:30 in the Council Chambers. The Heath and Human Services Committee will vote on the proposal in September.
