Council Affirms/Modifies UGM Permit

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

NIMBY Properties

The City Council affirmed the hearing officer's decision to grant UGM a conditional use permit to relocate to the 700-800 block of Commercial Street NE, adopted staff recommendation, and added a  condition to maintain 24-hour public access to a restroom.  The meeting did not run late.

No surprises here.

Christy Wood, whose business is in the same block as the Men's Mission, and who's on the Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force, considers UGM a good neighbor, and said she would support siting UGM's new facility at its current location if it were feasible. 

The makeshift camps and storage that cropped up over the winter are gone from the Commercial Street side of UGM.

According to sources, this is the result of a new UGM policy that says if you want to take your meals at UGM, you can't be hanging around outside the building all day and night.

1/26/19 Update: UGM has acquired Mike’s Electric at 275 Division NE and BAM Advertising at  255 Division NE, on the south/courtyard side of the building site.  See "Glennie Appeals UGM Permit to Council" (20 April 2018). 

UGM's Executive Director, Dan Clem, reports that the capital campaign, "Hope Has a New Address", is on track with $8.7M pledged/committed/collected towards the total of $15M."