Saturday, January 20, 2007
Resort-style homeless village or leper colony?
Volusia leaders might explore a developer's proposal for a $100M compound.
DeLAND -- As Volusia County's homeless problem races toward a boiling point, a local urban developer is proposing a controversial solution: a homeless village.
Michael Arth, who compares the project to Celebration or Baldwin Park, wants the county to build a $100 million compound in rural Volusia, far outside DeLand city limits, where transients would live, work and receive counseling.
The proposal instantly became a lightning rod for debate when it was unveiled this week, winning praise from some homeless advocates but drawing comparisons from others to leper colonies and internment camps.
"I have concerns of creating a gulag for homeless people who are not integrated into society, of essentially sending them to a reservation to live," said Lindsay Roberts, executive director of the Volusia-Flagler Coalition for the Homeless.
The project's hefty price tag almost guarantees it will never become reality, but Volusia leaders -- desperate to find a solution to the county's simmering homeless problem -- say they are willing to explore Arth's proposal and consider a modified design.
"I think it's pretty far-reaching. I don't know where the county would get the money," said County Chairman Frank Bruno, who plans to meet with Arth again next week. "I'm going to look at the property and look at possibilities . . .; there may be a need for housing areas like this."
Arth, who won acclaim in 2002 for transforming a derelict DeLand crime zone into the now-trendy Garden District, proposes building a 5,600-bed community on 125 acres near the Volusia County Branch Jail.
"Tiger Bay Village," as Arth has dubbed the plan, would be a resort-style, pedestrian-friendly village, complete with bungalows, dining halls, community gardens, a lagoon for swimming and winding paths for leisurely strolls. It would be the only community of its kind in Florida.
The facility would have on-site substance-abuse counselors, job-training and education programs and other services, Arth said.
"The tranquil and beautiful natural setting will be good for both physical and mental health, giving the appearance and ambience of a resort. Curious visitors visiting from suburbia will be heard to exclaim, 'Wow, I wouldn't mind living here,' " Arth wrote in his proposal.
The proposal offers few details about how to fund the community, which Arth said would cost about $17,500 per resident to build -- a price he says is ultimately less expensive for taxpayers than the cost of jailing vagrants or housing them in mental-health facilities.
"This is a permanent and compassionate solution," Arth said.
The notion of a designated homeless community is not new. Other U.S. cities have tried similar ideas, although when the homeless are segregated in rural areas, the programs typically fail, said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington.
"I think it's a proposal doomed to failure, and we would never support such a thing," he said. "Shipping the poor out of downtown areas is not the solution. . . . Most homeless would not leave the cities, no matter how fancy a place this place would be."
Stoops said the only time such efforts are even moderately successful are when they house the homeless in urban areas, where they can be part of the community and services are already in place. Programs in New York, Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio, have been the most successful, Stoops said.
Arth's proposal comes at a time when residents and businesses are increasingly complaining about the homeless. Recently, Daytona Beach police Chief Mike Chitwood proposed offering free bus tickets to send the homeless out of the city.
Last year, officials counted about 2,667 homeless people in Volusia County, up from 2,450 in 2003.
In DeLand, Agape Clubhouse fed 15 to 20 people a day last year; now, at least 35 people a day come in for meals, said Linda Brown, director of the homeless mission.
"It's become so large [that] we're having trouble handling it," said Brown, who added that she supports Arth's plan.
In the city's Garden District, where Arth lives, homeless people routinely sleep under residents' porches, panhandle in the streets and camp out in the neighborhood's vacant lot, frustrating the area's homeowners.
"I have had enough of these people. The sleaze in this neighborhood needs to end," said Maggi Hall, a Realtor who is leading an effort to crack down on panhandling in the Garden District. "These people don't want to work. They want drugs and booze, and we're living in fear here."
The problem is not going away, Roberts said. Arth's proposal, while far from perfect, is at least a step in the right direction, she said.
"People are so frustrated and so tired of the status quo," said Roberts. "The very idea that people recognize this as an issue is a very positive thing."
by Rebecca Mahoney
Sentinel Staff Writer
Volusia leaders might explore a developer's proposal for a $100M compound.
DeLAND -- As Volusia County's homeless problem races toward a boiling point, a local urban developer is proposing a controversial solution: a homeless village.
Michael Arth, who compares the project to Celebration or Baldwin Park, wants the county to build a $100 million compound in rural Volusia, far outside DeLand city limits, where transients would live, work and receive counseling.
The proposal instantly became a lightning rod for debate when it was unveiled this week, winning praise from some homeless advocates but drawing comparisons from others to leper colonies and internment camps.
"I have concerns of creating a gulag for homeless people who are not integrated into society, of essentially sending them to a reservation to live," said Lindsay Roberts, executive director of the Volusia-Flagler Coalition for the Homeless.
The project's hefty price tag almost guarantees it will never become reality, but Volusia leaders -- desperate to find a solution to the county's simmering homeless problem -- say they are willing to explore Arth's proposal and consider a modified design.
"I think it's pretty far-reaching. I don't know where the county would get the money," said County Chairman Frank Bruno, who plans to meet with Arth again next week. "I'm going to look at the property and look at possibilities . . .; there may be a need for housing areas like this."
Arth, who won acclaim in 2002 for transforming a derelict DeLand crime zone into the now-trendy Garden District, proposes building a 5,600-bed community on 125 acres near the Volusia County Branch Jail.
"Tiger Bay Village," as Arth has dubbed the plan, would be a resort-style, pedestrian-friendly village, complete with bungalows, dining halls, community gardens, a lagoon for swimming and winding paths for leisurely strolls. It would be the only community of its kind in Florida.
The facility would have on-site substance-abuse counselors, job-training and education programs and other services, Arth said.
"The tranquil and beautiful natural setting will be good for both physical and mental health, giving the appearance and ambience of a resort. Curious visitors visiting from suburbia will be heard to exclaim, 'Wow, I wouldn't mind living here,' " Arth wrote in his proposal.
The proposal offers few details about how to fund the community, which Arth said would cost about $17,500 per resident to build -- a price he says is ultimately less expensive for taxpayers than the cost of jailing vagrants or housing them in mental-health facilities.
"This is a permanent and compassionate solution," Arth said.
The notion of a designated homeless community is not new. Other U.S. cities have tried similar ideas, although when the homeless are segregated in rural areas, the programs typically fail, said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington.
"I think it's a proposal doomed to failure, and we would never support such a thing," he said. "Shipping the poor out of downtown areas is not the solution. . . . Most homeless would not leave the cities, no matter how fancy a place this place would be."
Stoops said the only time such efforts are even moderately successful are when they house the homeless in urban areas, where they can be part of the community and services are already in place. Programs in New York, Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio, have been the most successful, Stoops said.
Arth's proposal comes at a time when residents and businesses are increasingly complaining about the homeless. Recently, Daytona Beach police Chief Mike Chitwood proposed offering free bus tickets to send the homeless out of the city.
Last year, officials counted about 2,667 homeless people in Volusia County, up from 2,450 in 2003.
In DeLand, Agape Clubhouse fed 15 to 20 people a day last year; now, at least 35 people a day come in for meals, said Linda Brown, director of the homeless mission.
"It's become so large [that] we're having trouble handling it," said Brown, who added that she supports Arth's plan.
In the city's Garden District, where Arth lives, homeless people routinely sleep under residents' porches, panhandle in the streets and camp out in the neighborhood's vacant lot, frustrating the area's homeowners.
"I have had enough of these people. The sleaze in this neighborhood needs to end," said Maggi Hall, a Realtor who is leading an effort to crack down on panhandling in the Garden District. "These people don't want to work. They want drugs and booze, and we're living in fear here."
The problem is not going away, Roberts said. Arth's proposal, while far from perfect, is at least a step in the right direction, she said.
"People are so frustrated and so tired of the status quo," said Roberts. "The very idea that people recognize this as an issue is a very positive thing."
by Rebecca Mahoney
Sentinel Staff Writer
