Shoreline City Council and King County are looking to establish a "low barrier" (aka "enhanced") shelter at 16357 Aurora Ave. N. in Shoreline, WA. This location would house up to 60 or more people. 

A "low barrier" shelter is one with extremely few rules. 

- The patrons usually have untreated mental health and/or untreated drug addiction issues. 
- There is no screening for violent persons or sex offenders and ID's are not required. 
- Weapons are not allowed, but the facility does not search for them. 
- Patrons are not required to seek treatment and they are not required to participate in any programs to work towards stable housing. 
- The organization set to run this program has zero experience in running a low barrier shelter. 
- This organization has only had a 20% success rate in getting people to a point they can get into housing and many of those successes were families which is very different from the population that will be here.

According to the current laws of Shoreline a shelter of any kind CANNOT be placed in a residential zone, which is what this property is. This rule was created just two years ago. The city is trying to pass an "interim regulation" which would allow low barrier shelters in some R-48 residential zones including, but not limited to, this location. 

After some research on the subject it became clear that the city's methods and actions were in violation of several laws and processes. We have tried addressing the City Council about these issues ourselves but were getting nowhere. 
As a result, we have been in contact with an attorney that specializes in zoning law. He has confirmed our research. I am not sure what this will cost. It will depend on the City's response once these errors are pointed out to them.

Anything people want to contribute to help us with the burden of these costs is appreciated. There are laws and rules in place that the city must follow. They cannot be allowed to circumvent them.