Duluth car-living site shut down as neighbors appeal permit

DULUTH – The city shut down a car-living program that moved from downtown to a residential neighborhood this month after opposing neighbors appealed its permit.

Vineyard Church in the northern Kenwood neighborhood offered to host the seasonal 2-year-old Safe Bay program, with space tight at its former site at the Damiano Center. The city’s Planning Commission approved the permit for the program, which gives those who are homeless and living out of vehicles a place to shower and sleep for the night as they are monitored by overnight staff.

The City Council will either affirm or reverse the commission’s decision June 5, but according to city code, the program can’t operate until that decision is made.

Some neighbors who live on a road behind the church have cited issues with privacy and process, and concerns about trespassing and noise.

Vineyard Church still hopes to host the site, said Barry Schull, the church’s director of compassion ministries.

Safe Bay was open just over a week before it was shut down, and served 24 people, said Joel Kilgour, coordinator of Stepping On Up, the program sponsor.

Kilgour on Wednesday gathered with dozens of supporters, including several faith leaders, at a news conference in Vineyard Church’s forested back lot where Safe Bay operated.

The program’s participants have read and seen news reports and social media posts about Safe Bay, he said, “and they’re taking it very personally. They’re really just trying to survive in what are really challenging economic times.”

People living out of their cars are “real people in real need,” said Sister Beverly Raway, prioress of the nearby St. Scholastica Monastery.

“And at its core, this effort is an act of mercy,” she said. “Safe Bay is a simple yet profound response to a growing crisis.”

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Schull, of Vineyard Church, cited the Bible’s parable of the good Samaritan for keeping the site.

Vineyard Church hosts a Charlie Parr concert June 4 to raise money for the program, which is a response to the region’s affordable housing shortage.