Wichita City Council approves emergency shelter, Multi-Agency Center

The Wichita City Council has approved the purchase of the former Park Elementary school site from Wichita USD 259 and will move forward with plans for an emergency winter shelter and a Multi-Agency Center.

The site at 1025 N. Main will be purchased for $1, but closing costs and title work will cost $2,500.

Mayor Lily Wu says homelessness is an issue many organizations are addressing.

The next step for the city is to complete work inside the building and on the property to get the site ready for use as an emergency winter shelter. Some of that work includes installing a fire suppression system, a security access control system, lighting renovations and fencing.

ARPA funding will be used to complete the roughly $2.25 million project. The city hopes to have the shelter open by Thanksgiving. In the meantime, the city will begin design work on the MAC.

The council approved zoning changes at the site to allow the plans to move forward.

The council also unanimously approved a new ordinance to address parties being held at short-term rental properties.

The ordinance provides law enforcement with additional tools to deal with these gatherings of five or more people on residential properties. Some of the nuisance-type activities include the unlawful sale, furnishing, possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages, property damage, assault, battery, littering and indecent exposure.

Both the owner and renter may be cited under the ordinance, but the owner may only be charged if they are present at the time of the party, have received notification that a party is occurring and have not taken any steps to shut it down.

The first violation includes a fine of up to $500. A second or subsequent conviction has a fine of $1,000 or up to a maximum fine of $2,500 and one-year imprisonment. If the defendant is a short-term rental license holder, the court may suspend the license for a period of up to ten calendar days.