Tensions rise as Lower Providence homeless facility goes through zoning

Tensions surrounding a proposed supportive short-term housing project in Eagleville to assist those experiencing homelessness haven’t eased in the past year. 

The nonprofit project has continued through the municipal zoning channels despite objections from community members.

“RHD has had over 500 minutes to present their case,” an attendee could be heard saying during an April 29 Lower Providence Township zoning hearing.

The saga concerning the nonprofit began with the proposed supportive short-term housing project on the Eagleville Hospital grounds situated within the township’s “R-1 Residential Institutional Overlay District.”

Also known as Genny’s Place, the project was slated to provide occupancy to up to 60 single adults ages 18 years and older from Montgomery County for 60-to-90 days and resources to help residents live on their own in regular housing. Residents would undergo a screening process to ascertain eligibility. While Eagleville Hospital operates a 347-bed addiction recovery facility, officials say it’ll be separate from RHD’s housing and supportive services model.

This proposal came as rates of homelessness have been on the rise in a county without a major operational shelter for several years since the closure of the Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center in Norristown. Operated by the RHD, it served as the largest and main homeless shelter for single adults, but it was shuttered in June 2022 when the tract of land on which the building was situated was conveyed to the Municipality of Norristown for development.

RHD has faced an uphill battle in recent years as it tried to find another brick-and-mortar space after the CHOC closure. RHD representatives introduced their idea in January 2024 and participated in additional sessions as the proposed initiative brought significant interest.

Several residents asserted they did not receive advanced notice on the matter as they turned their ire towards elected officials, who maintained they did notify constituents about the proposal and stressed the RHD presentation during the January 2024 meeting was an introductory one.

Fiery public comment sessions followed. An April 2024 Lower Providence Township Board of Supervisors meeting featured instances of yelling and a recess during the lengthy public comment session.

“I think there was a group of people that felt very excluded,” said Eagleville resident Kathy Laws, adding, “I just wonder if we’d gotten off on a different foot from the very beginning, and they felt heard and included, it maybe wouldn’t have deteriorated the way it did.”

Residents expressed concerns with security, proximity to nearby homes and schools, as well as the existing concentration of agencies such as the treatment center, Montgomery County Correctional Facility, and county public safety campus.

“I think we’ve had good stewards in this social services sector in our community, and I haven’t seen any negative impact that I’m aware of,” Laws said.

Those in opposition launched a Concerned Citizens of Lower Providence Facebook page that attracted more than 1,400 members, an online petition amassing 1,583 signatures, as well as a t-shirt campaign, digital billboard, culminating in an in-person march protesting the supportive short-term housing model.

“They’ve been really effective in organizing,” Laws said.

Demonstrators held signs during the April 2024 protest that said “no homeless shelter” and “vote no for zoning change” in Lower Providence. Other alleged issues raised pertained to the criminal backgrounds of clientele and calling the space a “homeless migration complex.” RHD refuted those claims, insisting the facility will not serve as a homeless shelter and maintained “no registered sex offenders will be offered residence at Genny’s Place. They also expressed reservations surrounding alleged “misinformation” swirling throughout the community.

HealthSpark CEO and executive director Emma Hertz observed “a lot of misstatements” related to the project.

“I think the challenging piece is recognizing it’s a difficult space to bring facts forward and there’s been a lot of misstatements,” Hertz said in an April interview with MediaNews Group. “I think that we’re also seeing residents who are really not listening to what the truth is behind the proposal, or learning, and recognizing these are the facts behind what RHD does, who’s going to be allowed in, the responsiveness they’ve shown in adjusting their proposal based on resident concerns, and a lot of what we’re hearing in terms of residents showing up and advocating against the proposal is based in things that aren’t true.”

A proposed zoning text amendment later stalled as Lower Providence Township officials paused proceedings in late April 2024 following staunch public opposition by township residents.

Civil litigation was filed by RHD in May 2024 in Montgomery County Court. Additionally, the nonprofit “is appealing a determination from the zoning officer denying the proposed use at this location” and is “seeking an interpretation of the ordinance asserting supportive short-term housing is undefined by the ordinance,” according to a Lower Providence Township Zoning Hearing Board agenda.

Montgomery County officials have begun addressing the homelessness situation by taking a regional approach, executing leases for rooms at a Pottstown hotel and an office building in Lansdale that will soon become a 20-bed supportive short term housing facility operated by the Philadelphia-based Resources for Human Development, as well as receiving a variance from Norristown zoning board members in May for a planned facility in Norristown.

With respect to Lower Providence Township, municipal zoning board members have conducted a series of hearings on the matter since January at Arcola Intermediate School.

“The first night was super contentious,” Hertz recalled hearing “outcries” from the audience in late January.

“People are screaming, and cursing, and jeering, and yelling, and it’s become a really hostile environment, and I think that makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction, and to allow for a really productive discussion to be happening,” Hertz said.

“While it’s a legal process that needs to go forward at this point, I think largely we’re concerned around how the temperature of the hearings has become so heightened that we think many people who are supportive to the supportive housing program or to the program itself aren’t showing up because they’re scared to,” Hertz said. “The providers need to be walked to their cars at the end of the hearing. There’s police presence there.”

“I just have been really shocked, I think, as the meetings have progressed, at how vitriolic things have become with some of our neighbors,” Laws said. “That’s not the Lower Providence, not the Eagleville I’ve known over the years. It’s just been really surprising.”

“How do you sleep at night? That’s what I want to know,” Lower Providence Township resident Kier Maloney could be heard saying to someone in the audience during an April 29 hearing.

Last month’s zoning proceedings involved hearing testimony from attorneys representing RHD and the township, as well as those with party status to the case. Lower Providence Township resident Kyle Vanleer shared his worries about sending his three children to schools close to the proposed project.

“Those kids are going to go to the Eagleville Elementary School, which is very close to … this property, and also after that they will be going to Skyview [Upper Elementary School], and then Arcola … which is less than two miles from the proposed facility,” he said last month. “That in itself is a concern, just based on the prevalence of what could be coming to the area.”

“I believe we can both preserve Eagleville’s charm while contributing meaningfully to addressing this homelessness through properly scaled solutions in appropriate locations,” said township resident Bob Doran.

Doran, a residential real estate investor, revealed during cross-examination that he owns “a handful” of rental properties and expressed apprehension about the impacts of the proposed endeavor.

“RHD claims Genny’s Place is not a traditional shelter. Its capacity for up to 60 individuals raises concerns about loitering, substance use, or even petty crime if security is not adequate,” he said.

Doran objected to a perceived “lack of transparency, asserted claims surrounding the vetting process and offered statistics deemed inadmissible to the hearing process.

“Have you ever applied or been part of a process of applying to a homeless shelter?” asked a township zoning board member.

“I have not,” Doran said.

With Thursday evening’s session focused on public comment, organizers anticipate a sizable turnout and urged zoning board members to be lenient on timing to give people the chance to speak. The hearing is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Arcola Intermediate School, located at 4001 Eagleville Road. Visit lowerprovidence.org for more information.

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