BOISE, Idaho — A development attorney representing Interfaith Sanctuary sent a letter to the City of Boise, Wednesday asking that the city move forward with their Conditional Use Permit application for the former Salvation Army facility on State Street.
We at Interfaith Sanctuary respectfully request that the City of Boise move forward with our pending application. This supplemental submittal addresses certain issues set forth herein and recaps the efforts of Interfaith Sanctuary on refining its plans for the reuse and redevelopment of the Salvation Army facility on State Street.
In light of the prior submittal and scheduling of this matter, we believe that it is a priority that this be heard at the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on November 1, 2021 as any further delay would have a deleterious impact upon us at Interfaith Sanctuary, the community, and the most vulnerable in our community.
Related: Interfaith Sanctuary eyes new homeless shelter location, virtual public meeting scheduled
Interfaith's proposed move to this location has been a hot button issue for months which lead to Boise Mayor Lauren Mclean announcing the creation of the Shelter Better Task Force.
During the time of the task force's meeting, it was said that their recommendations would move away from location to best practices.
"We had agreed to pause the consideration of our applications to participate in the Shelter Better Task Force. That said, the process to which our applications have been subjected is constitutionally suspect and problematic. We note that the City of Boise’s creation of an extra-legal process with a poorly defined mission and purpose, which is exactly what the Shelter Better Task Force was, opens our applications to challenge by those who oppose this land use. Interfaith Sanctuary’s willingness to participate in these processes in good faith should not be interpreted as a waiver of the constitutional rights to which we are entitled. Moreover, recommendations of the Shelter Better Task Force that are not codified may not be enforced upon or imposed upon our application without our express agreement," wrote Wardle.
Related: Boise Mayor Lauren McLean asks Interfaith Sanctuary to 'pause' move, establishes task force
As of October 1, 2021, Interfaith's Conditional Use Permit was still "in-review" in the current planning stage, which has not changed since Mayor McLean asked them to put their application on pause.
The Full letter submitted to the city along with updated drawing plans can be found below.
