For the second time, the Boise City Council gave the green light for Interfaith Sanctuary to move to State Street.
The 5-1 vote, with City Council Member Luci Willits opposing, came after a marathon ten-hour city council meeting stretching from 2 p.m. through midnight and included conditions on the nonprofit’s ability to operate in the Veterans Park neighborhood. But, the city council also granted the nonprofit’s request for more flexibility to add more than two dozen extra beds to accommodate the needs of different family sizes, extreme weather or to accommodate emergency arrivals.
This vote is the latest move in a nearly five-year battle over the proposal to relocate the city’s low-barrier emergency shelter out of the Shoreline neighborhood in downtown Boise to the former Salvation Army warehouse on State Street. Interfaith Sanctuary’s plans to purchase the warehouse were first announced in January 2021, immediately sparking opposition from nearby neighbors concerned about impacts to property values and the possibility of crime committed by some of the residents of the shelter in the area…