BURBANK IS ASKED TO HOUSE HOMELESS.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis

Staff Writer

With Glendale's winter homeless shelter site unavailable this year, Burbank city officials are being asked to provide a nighttime shelter for the area's homeless.

Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority officials have asked to use a Burbank armory for a shelter.

The Burbank City Council, knowing that residents worry about crime and other problems a shelter could bring, is scheduled to consider the proposal Tuesday.

"We do know that in places like Santa Monica that have opened their doors, they've suffered some pretty negative effects and been a draw for homeless across the county," said Mayor Marsha Ramos.

"We certainly don't want to be a draw for every homeless person."

The Burbank Temporary Aid Center, a longtime fixture in the city, offers food, but not shelter, to the homeless.

But Ramos said having a nighttime shelter at the Burbank armory is a possibility.

"If there's a way we can do it, then we can be open to it, open to the possibility of a winter shelter program," she said.

The Union Rescue Mission, the nonprofit that would oversee the shelter, says it will avoid homeless loitering around the armory by busing them in in the evening.

The armory is at Valhalla and Screenland drives, and the preliminary plan is to have a few pickup locations in Burbank and Glendale.

The Glendale shelter traditionally opened Dec. 1 every year. If the city of Burbank approves the alternative shelter, Union Rescue Mission officials plan to open it within a week.

Like other homeless shelters, it would close March 15.

The Union Rescue Mission expects to receive nearly $240,000 from LAHSA to run the facility, which would accommodate between 120 and 150 individuals a night.

If the Burbank armory does not open, the nearest winter homeless shelter in the region would be in Sylmar, officials said.

"It's the only other option that we have found so far.

"Nobody else has stepped up with any space that's adequate and available for that period of time," said Carrie Gatlin, vice president of government relations for the mission.

Mike Flad, Burbank's assistant city manager, said the city expects to host the winter shelter for only one year, and next year it would go back to Glendale.

This year, renovations are being done at the Glendale site.

LAHSA could have used the armory without approval from the Burbank City Council, Flad said, but it is asking for the council's blessing.

"They could just put it in," he said. "What they've done, though, which I think is the right thing to do, is they want the approval of the local jurisdiction."

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

818-546-3304