City, South Austin neighborhood discuss relocation of controversial homeless center

AUSTIN, Texas - Tensions were high Tuesday over the possible relocation of a controversial homeless navigation center.

It was the first in-person gathering for a South Austin neighborhood. People weighed in on a proposed location off I-35 near Oltorf. That's where the city wants to move the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center.

Pushback on new homeless center location

What they're saying:

Tempers flared over the site that caught the city of Austin's eye to move the Sunrise Navigation Center’s operations to.

"I didn’t know about the homeless navigation center except through your news article and video, and I’m here to show up and talk about why this is a bad idea," said south Austin resident Brandon Willin.

"The bottom line here is, we are building the capacity that we need to serve more individuals today in Austin. We have more housing opportunities and more housing resources to help people get off the street and stay off the streets than we’ve ever had before, and we also have more shelter beds than ever before," said David Gray, the city of Austin's Homeless Strategy Officer. 

The current site is right next to Joslin Elementary School. Neighbors and parents claim it has jeopardized the safety of its kids, residents and businesses. It has even prompted legal action from Attorney General Ken Paxton.

"We are not talking about a copy and paste of anybody else’s navigation center to this community anybody who says that is wrong. We are talking about opening a city-owned resource with public accountability," said Gray.

The new site is off I-35 by Oltorf, at a previous game room.

The city says the location is not near any public parks, has transit connectivity, and says the interface with single-family residences is minimized. It's near the Southbridge shelter as well.

The location, while on the other side of I-35, is walking distance from both Travis High School and Travis Heights Elementary.

"When we talk about our elementary schools, this property is about a mile away from our nearest elementary school. It’s a 20-minute walk. I know it’s a 20-minute walk because this weekend I actually walked it myself," said Gray.

But the potential site is still facing pushback from the community, like Brandon Willin, who lives near the proposed site.

"The decisions that are being made by the HSO and city council are not in reality, so their data and understanding of what’s actually going on out there is a very far gap between those that live out there," said Willin.

Last week, a community-led Q&A was set up with council members Zo Qadri, Jose Velasquez, and homeless strategy officer David Gray, who were listed as attendees, but were not in attendance. The city cited a miscommunication between the organizers.

The three of them were present Tuesday night. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis was also in attendance.

"I’ve woken up in the morning and had a homeless person sleeping in my backyard. My wife walked out, my dog came out, and the person persisted in staying in our backyard. We have hypodermic needles shoved in our back fence," said Willin.

Statement from council member Zo Qadri:

"I appreciate the engagement of District 9 constituents on the Navigation Center proposal. My office is still working through our own questions with City staff, and while I want to get to a place where I can support this, if a vote were held today, I would not be able to do so. Homelessness has been a priority for me since day one, and I want to ensure any path forward reflects lessons learned and supports both housed and unhoused neighbors with transparency and accountability."

What's next:

Next step, the homeless strategy office is bringing a recommendation on whether the city will purchase the property. But Gray says they are committed to having dialogue with the community.

The city is scheduled to vote on the new site on October 9.