Homeless proposal is no solution

Give Hillsborough County Commissioners Al Higginbotham and Kevin White credit for trying to find a site for a homeless facility.

But not too much.

The two commissioners, who took the lead in killing a proposed homeless campground last week off East Hillsborough Avenue, promised to offer alternatives.

So they made a big deal Wednesday of an idea to provide temporary housing for the homeless in part of the former Floriland Mall. The proposal faces serious obstacles, but it is worth pursuing and commissioners were correct to vote to discuss the possibility with the owner. Public hearings would be held should the proposal progress.

But even in the unlikely event a homeless shelter can be located at the mall, it would hardly be a substitute for "Hillsborough Hope," the project Commissioners White, Higginbotham, Ken Hagan and Mark Sharpe rejected.

The 30,000 square feet that might be available in the mall building probably would serve only a few dozen individuals at best. In contrast, the rejected 12-acre parcel would have sheltered about 250 individuals.

Residents in the nearby East Lake Park neighborhood vigorously protested the camp, though it would have been in an industrial area and separated from the nearest homes by a four-lane highway and a commercial strip.

The Floriland site, though fairly well buffered, is likely to generate similar opposition. It faces business-lined Florida Avenue. Interstate 275 is to its rear. Busch Boulevard is to the south.

But there is a mobile home park immediately to the north and a Catholic elementary school a block away. The Forest Hill neighborhood, across Florida Avenue, is as close as the proposed Hillsborough Hope site was to East Lake Park. Chamberlain High School is down the road.

Neighbors, who were caught off guard by the plan, are mobilizing. The mall owner is, at present, opposed.

In contrast, land at the Hillsborough Avenue site would have been willingly provided by the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, which proposed the homeless camp.

The Floriland location, it should be said, has some advantages.

Some government and nonprofit operations that serve the homeless are in the building. Bus service is readily available.

The county already is leasing the space. Budget cutbacks are forcing the Clerk of Court Pat Frank to give up 20,000 square feet. Tax Collector Doug Belden, concerned by frequent parking lot flooding, wants to relocate his branch office, which would free up another 10,000 square feet.

White and Higginbotham want to explore using the space for dormitories.

But the cost of renovations, showers, bathrooms, kitchen and other necessities would be substantial. So would the ongoing utility and other maintenance costs.

Catholic Charities, which spearheaded Hillsborough Hope, was criticized for wanting to house residents in tents. But that strategy minimizes operational costs and the need for government subsidies. It also underscores that the shelter is temporary.

Of course, it would be nice if the homeless could be housed in well-appointed quarters throughout the county. But Hillsborough's homeless population is 10,000, the most in the state, and sleeping quarters are available here for only about 1,500. The county is never going to have the funds needed to meet the homeless' indoor housing needs. And neighborhoods are likely to resist even small homeless shelters.

Perhaps with some persistence, persuasion and understanding neighbors, the county will be able to develop a shelter for 30 or so individuals at the mall.

But even if White and Higginbotham should succeed in developing this project, they would have far more work to do before they could claim to have done for the homeless what Hillsborough Hope was ready to do.