Warming Center July 15 Hearing Public Comment and Signatures from Renee DimlerFrom:Renee
To:Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject:EXTERNAL Warming Center July 15 Hearing
Date:Monday, July 8, 2024 5:42:28 PM
Attachments:FWC - Application for Conditional Use Permit 9-4-2020.pdf
2024-07-08 - Signed Petition to Rescind the CUP of FH Warming Center_0001.pdf
Exhibit 1 - Warming Center Expansion Drawing.pdf
Exhibit 2 - Warming Center Fundraising Goals.pdf
Exhibit 3 - Warming Center Funding.pdf
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Dear Mr. Mayor and Kalispell City Council Members,
Please find attached additional signature pages of the petition to rescind the conditional usepermit of the Flathead Warming Center with 137 more in support of closing this facility.
I would like to stress that this opposition to the Flathead Warming Center is not about
opposing helping the homelessness in our community. It is about the violations of theConditional Use Permit authorized by the City of Kalispell for the Flathead Warming Center
to operate where it does.
Primarily, the issue I take with the Center personally, is their lack of transparency surroundingtheir plans to expand in the current location. When I brought this subject up at the last Council
meeting, no one wanted to touch that topic. It just slides under the rug. In the attachment to theApplication for the CUP dated 9/4/2020, Tonya Horn specifically states in paragraph 2(e)"We are not proposing to build". Further down in paragraph 2(g) she states, "The FlatheadWarming Center will own the three adjacent lots, however for the purpose of thisconditional use permit, we will only utilize the lot on which the building currently sits,Tract 2." , and in paragraph 3(g) she also says, "We do not intend to build on the property.We intend to use the current structure. We plan to remodel the inside of the building andmake modest esthetic improvements to the exterior of the building.". If these statements
are to be taken as true, then why is the FWC currently operating a fundraiser for 4.2 milliondollars to EXPAND THE FACILITY TO TAKE OVER THE ADJACENTLOTS? (attached building plans and fundraising data)
The truth is, the statements made in the original CUP do not coincide with the actions of theboard of directors or its current Executive Director. In fact they are in complete opposition to
each other.
On page 4 of the CUP application attachment, under the heading Safety, the very firststatement is, "The Flathead Warming Center will not introduce homelessness into theneighborhood." This is another untrue statement. I have lived in this neighborhood since2011. I have never experienced theft, trespass, violence, indecent exposure, drug activity or
any other kind of negative experiences during the years I have lived here. Then 2020 came.We saw the people coming in, camping inside the fairgrounds, indecent exposure, people
relieving themselves in public, people making their way to and from the warming center andleaving trash in their wake, crime, screaming and fighting, drug activity and police presence
unlike ever before. I have had a couple of people tell me that this neighborhood has alwaysbeen a bad neighborhood with higher crime, but I have to disagree. I have not seen it or
experienced it. We have neighbors that have lived in this area for many decades and disagreewith those assumptions. There is one common denominator - The Flathead Warming Center.
When this facility opened its doors, we saw our entire neighborhood change.
Begs the question why many people voice concern for marijuana dispensaries inside the citylimits. - it's because this type of industry brings with it a certain element that people do not
want. The same goes for a low barrier homeless shelter.
The FWC has without a doubt, introduced homelessness into the neighborhood. Theseindividuals will not stray too far away from where they are receiving free services. Why would
they? They will mill around the neighborhoods to make sure they are one of the 50 to get abed, or a shower, or dental checkup, etc. If you build it, THEY WILL COME.
Now let's address summer time. My husband, son and I were using the Rails to Trails on a
bike ride one evening about 2 weeks ago. There was a homeless man, completely intoxicated,sitting in the middle of the sidewalk with beer cans thrown on the ground all around him,
yelling and swearing. A young family with two toddlers were on their own bike ride, and wereattempting to navigate around this individual, as were we. My son ended up wrecking his bike
during this debacle. Further down the trail, we reached the train trestle where the lane splits intwo, but now you cannot stay on your side of the lane as you round the 90 degree corner
because several people are living there. Riding through, you make your way on the oneway inthe wrong direction, through clothing hanging everywhere, the stench of urine, stale alcohol
and feces, amid sleeping bags, bikes, graffiti, trash and the occasional wheelchair or shoppingcart. This wonderful trail that our tax dollars built is hard to use in areas that are being
populated with people staying fairly close to the Warming Center's proximity. The trail isn'tbad when you get farther away from downtown, but it certainly defeats its purpose when
people are afraid to use it. I genuinely believe that the Flathead Warming Center is directlyresponsible for bringing homelessness into our neighborhoods. This did not exist in our town
at the level it currently is before they opened their doors.
When you provide free services without any incentive to receive them (i.e., sobriety), youopen yourself to receiving more and more demand by those that hear about these services and
come here for them. I know, I know....they keep telling us they are serving locals, but I haveheard many of these people speak, and the majority of them are not from "around here".
We look forward to the upcoming hearing regarding the CUP of the FWC and encourage our
City Council Members and Mayor to please hear your constituents and rule in favor ofrescinding this CUP.
Respectfully,
Renee Dimler
P.O. Box 3382
Kalispell, MT 59903
reneesuz07@gmail.com