Orlando man accuses city of discrimination over location of proposed homeless shelter

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando man has caused the Florida Attorney General’s office to kick off a civil rights investigation over the proposed location of a planned homeless shelter.

Homer Hartage, with Save West Orlando, filed the complaint with the Attorney General’s Office after learning of plays to turn a former extended stay hotel into a homeless shelter.

His issue with the plan is that it will place the shelter near 30 other social service locations, including the Orange County Jail, a probation office and a women’s homeless shelter.

“When you compact social services in one part of the county that happens to be African-American or a protected minority, that’s called discrimination,” Hartage said. “Even if the initial intent is not.”

The Attorney General’s Office confirmed that a civil rights attorney was reviewing the complaint.

Orlando officials argue that turning the vacant building into a homeless shelter would make the building more appealing and improve the area.

Hartage believes it is just a quick fix that singles out a class of people in the city.

“What I’m saying is let’s go ahead and solve this problem, let’s fix it, let’s not patch it up,” he said. “Let’s not put this burden on one group of people. That’s just not right.”

"As a community we have made a commitment to ending homelessness and the Orlando Union Rescue Mission plays a critical role in this effort.  While providing social services is important to meeting the needs of our community, the City must also ensure service providers have a minimal impact on the surrounding areas.

"The City of Orlando agrees that historically social services have been concentrated primarily in one area, which is why in 1993 the Orlando City Council created a policy aimed at preventing the continued overconcentration of social services in Parramore. This policy currently prohibits the establishment of new providers and the expansion and/or relocation of existing providers in Parramore.

"The new location selected by the OURM is outside of the Parramore community and reduces the concentration of social services in the area which has been a longstanding goal of the City.

Additionally, the City believes the new location will uplift the surrounding area in contrast to the previous use. The building design will be more aesthetically appealing and will decrease undesirable activity on the site.

For example, as an extended stay hotel, multiple sex offenders were staying at the property.

The OURM has a strict policy and does not allow sex offenders.

"While the City supports the new location, even if the City did not support the new location, the OURM is entitled to operate at this location through existing zoning rights.

"The City of Orlando is committed to an open and transparent process.  The property did not require any zoning changes to be used as the OURM instead of as an extended stay hotel.  Because there were not any zoning changes, no public hearings were required.  To ensure the community was aware of the changes, the City in conjunction with the OURM held a community meeting to update residents in the surrounding area."

Cox Media Group