Multnomah County OKs plans for Montavilla tiny home shelters

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – In a 3-1 vote on April 11, Multnomah County commissioners approved plans to build a tiny home shelter in the Montavilla neighborhood, marking a step closer towards the county and City of Portland’s shelter goals, officials said.

The Montavilla Community Village, 333 Southeast 82nd Avenue, is aimed for people experiencing homelessness and living in their vehicles, the county said. The shelter site will include 29 tiny homes with heating and air conditioning, wrap-around services, and will be staffed 24/7 by Straightway Services, a Portland nonprofit offering several resources including homeless support, and addiction services.

As part of the contract, Multnomah County budgeted $420,000 annually for the nonprofit to run the shelters through August 2026.

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“Moving more people off the street and into pathways to housing has been my priority — and I know a priority of this board — since day one,” said Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “Increasing shelter beds and improving the efficacy of those beds continues to be my focus, and this shelter will provide safety off the streets and 29 shelter pods for people and couples who would otherwise sleep in their vehicles.”

The county stated the Joint Office of Homeless Services — which designed the site — will follow “robust” safety protocols and communication with neighbors “to ensure that the village operates in harmony with the surrounding community,” and is working on a Good Neighbor Agreement ahead of the shelter’s opening.

Multnomah County commissioners initially planned to vote on the site design in December 2023, however, the Joint Office delayed the vote to allow more time for community engagement on the project, according to the county.

“We want to move us all toward a solution that addresses the humanity and needs of all concerned, whether you’re a homeowner, a renter, a business owner or somebody sleeping on the street,” Joint Office of Homeless Services Director Dan Field said. “Our goal is to positively impact people in the neighborhood.”

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The Joint Office said the county bought the property — the home of a former RV dealership — for $2.25 million in August 2022. The following month, the county reached out to community organizations, neighborhood residents, service providers and businesses in the area to discuss the project.

“This whole thing is an embarrassment”

The one vote against approval for the village was from Commissioner Sharon Meieran, who voiced several concerns about the project before the Board of Commissioners vote on April 11.

“I am very dismayed by the history and evolution of this project. I feel it has been a massive waste of time and resources that we still don’t know the full extent of. It’s shocking to me that we can get to a point three years after this property was identified, existed a parking space that couldn’t have been used for the past three years and that only now are we getting to sort of a plan for something that for a variety of reasons I feel is not the right thing for a ridiculous amount of money and I just don’t get it,” Commissioner Meieran said during the meeting.

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“A lot of the response to community engagement, these should be the floor. The community should not have to tell us that we need to have security around sites. That we need to have engagement, that we need to be doing a lot of this basic work. We should know these things and start there,” she added. “This whole thing is an embarrassment. We could have done so much more.”

In a statement to KOIN 6 News on Monday regarding her vote against the project, Commissioner Meieran said, “I have been very dismayed by the history and evolution of this project. Community providers and neighbors had informed me about challenges in the neighborhood and opportunities with this site for years. I’ve continuously voiced my concerns to the Joint Office of Homeless Services.”

“I believe the County paid too much for the property and then failed to plan or engage neighbors around what should be done with it. They hired an organization to run the site that has never done this kind of work. They don’t have a specific plan around substance use at the site. And now they’re spending another $2.3 million just for renovation. To me, this is a perfect example of what not to do in terms of setting up a shelter. It’s an approach to planning that is the opposite of strategic.”

She concluded, “In the big picture, all of our investments represent trade-offs. Is a parking lot with pods and parking spaces for derelict vehicles the priority over expanding drug and mental health residential beds? As an elected official, my job isn’t to rubber stamp projects. I have a responsibility to ask tough questions and vote no when plans are incomplete, or the answers just don’t add up.”

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A spokesperson for the Joint Office told KOIN 6 News that Straightway Services’ application stood out because of their over 20 years of experience serving marginalized communities in Portland.

The spokesperson noted many other shelter providers have been awarded contracts with the Joint Office even though they didn’t have previous experience running shelters and have gone on to run successful programs — including WeShine, Beacon Village, and Cultivate Initiatives.

Construction for Montavilla Community Village is slated to begin in August 2024, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, officials said.

The project also adds to other village-style shelters around the county, including Kenton Women’s Village, the St. Johns Village, the Queer Affinity Village and BIPOC Village shelters.

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