JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) The Jefferson City Council on Monday rejected rezoning for a homeless shelter on Monday night. The Jefferson City Room at the Inn was hoping to move forward with possible next steps toward expanding into a vacant building for a new resource center and emergency shel ter. The council rejected the measure 6-3. “No” votes consisted of Ward 1 Councilmen Randy Hoselton and Jeff Ahlers, Ward 2 Councilman Cody Holt, Ward 3 Councilman Hal Dulle and Ward 4 Councilmembers Chris Leuckel and Julie Allen. Ward 2 Councilman Mike Lester, Ward 3 Councilwoman Treaka Young and Ward 5 Couniclwoman Mackenzie Job voted in support, while Ward 5 Councilman Shane Kampeter abstained from voting. Public comment and discussion lasted roughly an hour and a half, with slightly more residents appearing to have spoken in favor of the project. "Do we want Jeff City to look better, or to BE better? This will make our city better for all of its citizens, including its unhoused citizens, including its unhoused citizens,” one person said during the impassioned public comment portion of the meeting. The proposed location — 107 Adams St. — is a block from the current JCRATI location at the First Baptist Church at 107 Monroe St. The homeless housing group Housing the Community Jefferson City announced its intent to purchase the Adams Street building in May. Scott Johnston, president of the organization's board of directors, said the hope was to fill the second floor with 30 beds and turn the first floor into a resource center with showers, bathrooms and recreational space. The 0.44-acre property is zoned Planned Unit Development, which can allow standard zoning rules to be bypassed for mixed housing types. To acquire the building, Housing the Community had to submit a zoning application to the city. In June, the Jefferson City Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-3 not to recommend the zoning change to the City Council. After that vote, JCRATI Chair Sarah Hamilton told ABC 17 News that there was no explanation for the vote. More than 53 people had sent in letters of support, compared to 17 community members who were against the zoning change. A public hearing was scheduled for Aug. 3, but Housing the Community requested it be delayed to allow time for more conversations between the city and community. Johnston said the delay also allowed time for regrouping and refining of the proposal. "Primarily issues that were raised [were] concerning our organization's ability to sustain operations of a program like we've proposed and our capacity to operate that," Johnston said. The nonprofit is almost entirely volunteer based, according to Johnston. "But we do have five years of experience running an emergency shelter with some limited, part-time staff. And we have also been engaged with Project Homeless Connect, which is under our umbrella, for over ten years," Johnston said. Planning and Zoning Commissioner Bunnie Trickey Cotten, who voted in support of RATI in June, previously told ABC 17 News that the council isn't required to follow the commission's recommendation. A pending bill to allow for rezoning of 107 Adams St. is set to be discussed at Monday's city council meeting at 6 p.m. Residents are invited to the public hearing at City Hall, located at 320 E. McCarty St. If the zoning application is approved, work will then begin to hopefully open by winter 2027. “We have a very busy work schedule ahead of us in terms of fundraising, planning renovations, and planning to move our operations into this building,” Johnston said. Johnston gave $1 million as a rough estimate for moving into and renovating the building, though that price tag would be contingent on estimates not yet given. According to council documents, building renovation plans are included in the application materials. The building would undergo two renovation phases -- first the first-floor day center, then the second-floor shelter. A screened outdoor area is also proposed at the back of the building. If the council votes down rezoning the building for a new shelter and resource center, Johnston said nowhere else in the city compares. "The other facilities we've looked at just didn't match up to 107 Adams [St.] for a variety of reasons. They were either too remote, in a residential, near a residential area, or required too much renovation or too limiting," Johnston said. He added that the property proposed was located in the heart of where it is most needed. Going back to the drawing board, it would be difficult to find somewhere that would provide the same support for those facing hardship and homelessness in Jefferson City. "Whatever different location we find, and hopefully with some assistance from the city and the community, that it will not have as big an impact on the unhoused in the downtown area. Particularly around the convention center, the new hotel and the library. Because this is where the unhoused people are and that's why this location is so unique," Johnston said. The post Jefferson City Council rejects rezoning for homeless shelter appeared first on ABC17NEWS. ...read more read less