Money needed to erect small shelters and make other improvements to the city’s only approved homeless encampment is now in place.
The Rochester City Council voted Tuesday to provide an additional $220,786 for Peace Village, currently a vacant lot on the northwest edge of downtown. That adds to the $1 million in city spending previously authorized for the site.
This latest legislation also allows the City-Roots Community Land Trust, which owns the property, to contract with Christa Development to assemble the small, self-contained housing units called Pallet Shelters and complete other site work. The other improvements will include lighting, electricity, water and drainage, and pouring concrete foundations for the shelters.
How quickly the work can begin was not immediately clear. A call to Christa Senior Vice President Brian McKinnon was not immediately returned.
Last month, WXXI News reported on the razing of makeshift shelters at Peace Village after months of issues with the agencies overseeing the site.
One of those issues was a funding shortfall to prepare the site for construction. The city-purchased shelters were delivered back in April. Other issues included difficulty with insurance and sorting out responsibilities among the network of nonprofits overseeing the site.
Meléndez spearheaded the project to build shelters at Peace Village. City Council approved buying the shelters in February 2023. He had expressed frustration with the slow progress at Peace Village after the site was cleared, and he had said he planned to push for funding needed to fill the gaps in the site’s development.
Prior to the Council vote Tuesday, Meléndez stressed a need to establish a clear understanding of the nonprofits’ roles at Peace Village.
“We will be following up with a quick memo to ask some questions on the contractual relationships and who is responsible for what moving forward,” Meléndez said.
The bill was passed by a vote of 7-0. Councilmember Mitch Gruber abstained because he serves on the board of Peace Village, Inc. Councilmember LaShay Harris was absent from the meeting.
The bill also allows for adjustment of funding for the project, if needed.
Peace Village was established in 2018 after the city tore down a homeless encampment on South Avenue. The site at the northwestern tip of downtown was formerly an array of makeshift shelters, sheds, and tents. The site had little in the way of infrastructure save for a single water pump and porta-potties.
