Funding, zoning questions dog St. Paul ‘Familiar Faces’ homeless project on Marshall Avenue

When St. Paul announced it had found a Marshall Avenue building to house homeless residents and others well known to police and emergency responders for repeat incidents, some neighbors rallied against the “Familiar Faces” initiative.

Opposition to converting St. Christopher’s Place, Catholic Charities’ low-cost rooming house, into a 30-35 unit, city-owned, service-based facility has unfolded on two fronts, with some questioning the use of federal housing and COVID relief funding and others opposed to lifting a minimum distance requirement from another “supportive housing” group home.

In April, St. Paul College sent a letter of interest to Catholic Charities looking into acquiring the 268 Marshall Ave. property, which sits across the street from their campus, and converting it into a student housing cooperative. Had it been successful, the college would have become the only Minnesota State college or university in the metro to offer student housing, according to a spokesperson for the college, who noted that student surveys have highlighted a high degree of housing instability.

Catholic Charities then solicited potential buyers and received a competing letter of intent from the city. The nonprofit chose the city’s proposal, applying for a conditional-use permit to support the “Familiar Faces” initiative.

“This alternative plan would have addressed the needs of 71 students facing housing instability, aligning with the community’s vision and fostering educational and economic growth in the area,” neighborhood resident Eric Scott said in a written statement Friday. “Yet, it was completely disregarded in favor of a plan that has faced widespread opposition from the neighborhood and appears to prioritize expedience over thoughtful decision-making.”

The mayor’s office hopes to sign a purchase agreement with Catholic Charities before the end of the year and close on the $2.5 million building acquisition in early 2025 before making $3.6 million in improvements. To do that, city officials had hoped the city council would agree to earmark $6.8 million in HOME-ARP grant money, which is federal funding acquired through HUD.

Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher, who has been heavily involved in the “Familiar Faces” effort, said 25 people make up roughly half of the hundreds of mental health competency evaluations called for by Ramsey County District Court judges in criminal trials each year. These “frequent fliers” tie up emergency responders and hospital beds and desperately need housing, therapy and other intensive services, she said.

“We have the initial staffing to implement the ‘Familiar Faces’ concept, but the physical location where we can provide that intensive care and that housing, that’s the next step in the process,” said Tincher, telling the council Wednesday that efforts to design and fund the effort with partners stretch back 10 years.

Council vote postponed

Meanwhile, the federal landscape around backing housing for the homeless soon could change, given the new presidential administration coming in January.

“I’m just going to be really candid,” said Tincher, urging an immediate council vote. “I am really worried about what is going to happen at the federal level.”

Instead, following an emotional discussion that lasted over an hour, the council Wednesday voted to postpone a decision to their next meeting, Nov. 20.

“One of the things I’m struggling with, with this vote, is the unanswered questions around programming costs,” said Council Member Anika Bowie, who said she’s received limited information from Ramsey County’s “Heading Home Ramsey” multi-agency homelessness initiative, which Tincher chairs. “I haven’t had a chance to meet with the leadership of ‘Familiar Faces.’ … I don’t know the level of engagement that has happened in community.”

Bowie, who represents the area, added that outreach to neighbors has been lacking.

“The executive director of Summit-University (planning council) was not notified about this development project, around the purchasing,” she added. “They were notified of the zoning modification. … Their members were not even aware of this vote that we are going to take today.”

Bowie initially asked for the council discussion to be continued in mid-December, allowing her more time for community outreach. Tincher told the council Wednesday that a delay could jeopardize the purchase, a concern that was echoed by Council President Mitra Jalali and others.

Council members also expressed concern that they were being asked to earmark funds for a specific location, rather than for general housing efforts, before zoning relief had been granted.

Zoning discussion Thursday

On Nov. 21, the St. Paul Planning Commission’s zoning committee will likely make a recommendation about whether to support a conditional-use permit for the “Familiar Faces” facility, including lifting the minimum separation distance requirement between the building and the next supportive housing facility: Arrigoni East, a state-backed group home on Summit Avenue that serves men who have completed a treatment program. Another group home, The Retreat Sober Living, is also located on Summit Avenue.

The full planning commission is expected to take up the question Dec. 6. Given the degree of community opposition, if the planning commission approves Catholic Charities’ conditional-use permit, an appeal to the city council is more than likely, which could push a final decision to February.

If the zoning relief is not granted, “we would have to find a new location, which would be challenging,” Tincher said.

Tincher noted studies have found as few as two dozen people account for about half the criminal defendants who appear in court downtown, again and again, but never go to trial because of their mental health status.

In 2021, Ramsey County District Court judges ordered more than 780 competency evaluations for criminal defendants, 73% of whom were deemed incompetent to be put on trial because of mental illness, Tincher said. In 2019, 25 defendants accounted for 46% of those competency evaluations. “Our local jails have now become a holding facility for those suffering,” she said, and that’s “being played out in our ERs, in our 911 response calls.”

The St. Paul Police Department this year ended its mental health unit, which since 2018 had embedded social workers and behavioral health practitioners with a handful of police officers. As part of the Community Outreach and Stabilization Unit, the outreach workers would follow up after police calls that involved mental health or chemical dependency. “Familiar Faces” is meant to take the place of those efforts.