Transitional housing development planned for Killeen homelessness

 Paul Bryant | Herald Staff Writer

Some of Killeen's homeless set up camp behind a restaurant in 2020.

Transitional housing for those experiencing homelessness will be developed on Atkinson Avenue if the Killeen City Council on Tuesday approves a zoning change in the area.

“If approved, the property is intended to be developed as the Homeless to Housed Project, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity,” according to a staff report. “The proposed use will provide transitional housing for individuals and families currently experiencing homelessness, as well as supportive assistance to successfully transition from homelessness to permanent housing.”

The properties at 2607 and 2703 Atkinson Ave. must be rezoned from “regional commercial” to “campus” under the 2022 Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use Map.

‘A need to provide shelter’

“There is a need to provide shelter and community services to those persons experiencing homelessness,” according to the staff report. “As shown in the 2022 Comprehensive Plan’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Challenges analysis, there is a ‘magnitude of homeless population hinder(ing) downtown investment.’ Therefore, staff is of the determination that this amendment will aid in addressing this challenge.”

To that end, two council members — Jessica Gonzalez and Ramon Alvarez — want the want the City Council to consider adopting an ordinance prohibiting loitering by people experiencing homelessness in the city.

“We’re just trying to figure out the best way to help the police department and property owners keep people off their properties and from camping out at their facilities,” Gonzalez said in her request in October. “Some cities are being told by police to have ‘no trespassing’ signs posted, and some cities have an ordinance. That’s part of the conversation we’re going to have.”

Alvarez, in a request to place the item on a meeting agenda, said some experiencing homelessness are creating problems downtown.

“I was recently contacted by several downtown business owners and members of the Downtown Merchants Association regarding their most recent experience with area homeless persons,” he said. “These experiences ranged from defecation outside their buildings, ongoing harassment and damage to their buildings or private property,”

Specifically, Alvarez wants the council to consider the creation of a no-camping ordinance.

“The state has one but after speaking with KPD officers, it is too cumbersome and inefficient to enforce,” he said. “The city, as home-rule, can be more stringent than the state so by creating our own ordinance, we can tailor it to our community and help our downtown business owners find relief.”

Under Texas law, cities with populations over 5,000 are given the power of self-government as home-rule and general law municipalities.

“We’re actively in the process of trying to work on revitalizing downtown, so what I would say is, ‘Are we going to be criminalizing homelessness?” Killeen Police Department Homeless Liaison Officer Kyle Moore told the Herald in October. “No. Are we actively working with businesses to try to address the issue? Yes. We will work on ideas together to help get them out of their situation.”

About 70% of the properties downtown are vacant. Bounded on the north by east-west corridor Rancier Avenue and on the south by Veterans Memorial Boulevard, downtown Killeen includes what was the original town founded in 1882 with the arrival of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway.

“What we’re being told is that for some of the properties, we have some new tenants moving in,” Gonzalez told the Herald in October. “Some of the places downtown, the owners are responsible for their properties but they don’t have the proper signage. There’s a lot of red tape, and we are trying to figure out how to make sure we have proper notices to have them moved from that space.”

Moore explained the process for removing people from private property.

“There are some things that are needed to enforce things like criminal trespassing,” he said. “Our community engagement unit is actively working with those businesses in the area to provide information on what they need to know, and signs is one of them.”

By the numbers

With about 150 to 250 people experiencing homelessness on any given day in Killeen, that number could quadruple in the next five years if multiple government entities, agencies and nonprofit organizations don’t find a solution, San Antonio consultant Robert Marbut told the City Council in September.

He said about 150 new people experience homelessness in Killeen “every year that Fort Hood is here.”

“It looks like you’re going to double that amount in five years ... if you don’t make a change,” Marbut said. “It looks like the next doubling after that would be about 3.7 years. If changes aren’t made, you’ll probably be quadruple in about nine years.”

According to a preliminary study conducted through an interlocal agreement between Killeen and Temple city councils that paid him $100,000, Marbut found that almost 16% of the homeless population in Killeen were born in Bell County. Almost 42% had jobs in Bell County before experiencing homelessness, and nearly 65% started experiencing homelessness in Bell County.

In Killeen, the average age of the homeless is 47.6, and they spend almost 13 years in homelessness. Just over 60% are males and almost 19% are veterans.

In Killeen, 23.1% stay homeless for two to five years, Marbut has said. For five years or more, 34.4% remain homeless.