Solving housing & schools
Austin needs more kids.
City Council voted today in favor of a property acquisition that will allow the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center to move to a new home at I-35 & E. Oltorf.
The measure to purchase the 1.39 acre property on the highway frontage road passed 8-3, with Council members Zo Qadri, José Velásquez and Marc Duchen in dissent.
It was a big win for Council Member Ryan Alter, who represents the South Austin neighborhood where Sunrise is currently located. The facility, right across the street from Joslin Elementary, has been a lightning rod of controversy in recent years. Alter has been under tremendous pressure from constituents to get the facility either closed down or moved.
Unsurprisingly, of the eight people who showed up from Alter's district to speak on the matter, seven were in favor of the relocation.
Equally unsurprising were the dozens of residents who live near the new site who showed up to oppose the move.
