911 calls to Days Inn motel expected to drop after it becomes a shelter, Lacey chief says
The current Days Inn motel in Lacey is a troubled property, generating hundreds of 9-1-1 calls per year, Lacey City Council learned on Thursday.
However, police and council members think those numbers will fall once the hotel is converted and properly managed to serve people who are homeless, first as a shelter and later as permanent supportive housing.
“Providing housing in cooperation with services is what works,” Police Chief Robert Almada said. “It’s a proven model, it works repeatedly, and I’m glad we’re bringing it here to Lacey.”
City Manager Scott Spence said the site now generates more than 400 9-1-1 calls per year, compared to 60-70 a year for a similar hotel in the area.
Almada said the property is one of the largest generators of police calls in the city, although he did not describe the nature of those calls.
“It’s definitely one of our hot spots,” he said.
Thursday’s council discussion was an extension of an announcement earlier in the week.
The state, Thurston County and the city of Lacey, partners in the state’s rights-of-way initiative, announced Tuesday they plan to convert the property at 8200 Quinault Drive NE into shelter and later permanent supportive housing for the homeless.
The state’s rights-of-way program seeks to clear the homeless from public areas along I-5 and get them into housing.
Thurston County received $37 million from the state’s rights-of-way program, of which $20 million will be used for the hotel acquisition and site setup. An additional $4 million will be used for two years of site operations. The Low Income Housing Institute will operate the Days Inn shelter 24/7 and will provide on-site case management to help residents obtain permanent housing, employment, health care and other services.
The shelter near the Marvin Road exit from I-5 is expected to open in spring 2023.
Despite the detailed announcement, Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder said he has already received emails from several residents who think the plan for the hotel is completely different from what was announced.
Community and Economic Development Director Rick Walk tried to help.
“It’s not a day shelter,” he said. The converted hotel will have on-site management and controls, perimeter fencing, parking permits for residents and a lobby that will control who is coming and going, Walk said.
Council member Lenny Greenstein, who acknowledged that in the past he has been a skeptic on the topic of services for the homeless, visited a property run by the Low Income Housing Institute in Tacoma and came away from the experience impressed.
“I thought they did a really good job,” he said. “They had a good set of rules and enforced them, and it was clean and there weren’t people hanging around.”
Loitering is what people are concerned about, Greenstein said.
City officials aren’t done answering questions.
At 3 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, city, county, state and Low Income Housing Institute officials will gather at Lacey City Hall to provide an overview of the conversion and answer questions. Lacey City Hall is at 420 College St. SE.
Meeting and informational flyers have been distributed to nearby business owners and some were called directly by the city, Walk and Spence said. For more information, go to: https://cityoflacey.org/.
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
