Dover-area tiny houses for homeless meet resistance

Dover has a growing homeless problem, and one church just outside the city has a tiny plan to address it.

The project would build a village of 15 tiny houses on land adjacent to Victory Church to house some of the 100 or so homeless people who seek shelter on any given night in the city.

The tiny houses would be rented for $200 to $300 a month to people who have jobs but can't afford a permanent residence. Renters would be allowed to stay as long as they remained productive, rule-abiding members of the campground. Port Hope of Delaware Inc., a nonprofit partnering with the church, says the first step to help the homeless is to provide a home. Only then, they say, can other issues be addressed.

But neighbors are outraged that the city's homeless will be just steps from their front doors.

360-degree view of a tiny house:

(Story continues below.)

“The neighbors are not against homes for the homeless, especially homeless veterans,” said neighbor Tom Ferrington, who noted the folks from Victory Church and Port Hope Delaware Inc. have yet to talk to them about the plan. “People are terrified of what is coming.”

They have spent the summer watching with some trepidation as a tiny house model took shape in the church's parking lot. A movement to stop the project's progress has since started, with many of the neighbors putting “No Tiny Houses” signs in their yards and on fences that separate their properties from the church’s.

STORY: Dozens expected at Dover homeless rally

STORY: Homeless advocates ask Dover City Council for help

What Port Hope and Victory Church are proposing is a 5-acre campground on land adjacent to the church that will eventually become self-sustaining and self-supporting.

“Port Hope’s goal is to build an alternative community for living simply, thus promoting health, kindness and respect for the environment,” said Sue Harris, who along with Cathi Kopera co-founded the organization. “A big part of that goal is to create cooperatively run, self-managed tiny house villages for extremely low-income people to live in a sustainable way.”

Neighbors are most worried that the village will be inhabited by the chronically homeless. Ferrington believes that can only lead to trouble.

“Much of the concern is about who they are bringing in,” Ferrington said. “We’re all concerned about [the inhabitants] walking the streets in our neighborhood at all hours of the day and night.”

Since the signs went up, Ferrington and neighbors Jim and Sally Miller said they have had face-to-face encounters with the homeless who are "unsupervised" when they are at the church.

"There is no supervision for the homeless who use the church at night," said Miller, who began keeping a log of incidents. "It's really the noise and harassment from these folks. There are cars in and out of the parking lot at all hours of the night and people walking around the neighborhood. We just don't feel safe."

Both Miller and Ferrington say they have installed cameras on their properties and have called police on occasion. A Delaware State Police spokesman said there have been two calls made to the church having to do with the homeless. While the church has a Dover mailing address, it sits just outside the city's boundaries.

A shared dream

In mid-May, when Aaron Appling and Kopera started talking about the homeless problem in the area, they realized each had a similar dream.

Appling is pastor at Victory Church, which feeds 20 to 30 homeless people every day, offers temporary shelter and takes food, water and ministry to the people in the streets. But he has always wanted to do more.

A chance meeting in May with Kopera led to the tiny houses plan.

Aside from the pushback from neighbors, the groups would have to convince Kent County to change the property's zoning to allow for the village. There are also existing code violations at the church.

Organizers believe they will overcome the hurdles. The say they have addressed the code violations and are looking for a land use lawyer to address the zoning change.

Sarah Keifer, director of the Department of Planning Services for Kent County, said she has given church officials some options.

“There are a couple of ways to proceed, so they have choices to make,” Keifer said. “We will be happy to help them when this happens.”

Keifer said the church will need to go through the public hearing process to acquire a conditional use permit to change the zoning for the property.

She also said a campground has to be a minimum of 5 acres. Currently, the land for the church and the campsite total 5 acres, but the building sits on one of those acres.

“Then there are the septic and water issues,” Keifer said. “If a well needs to be drilled, the church would then have to work with public health.”

Harris says the homeless problem is not going away in Dover or in Kent County. Research shows that in the 10 years from 2006 to 2016, Kent County reduced homelessness 23 percent from 242 to 188. However, according to the Point in Time Count, a one-day count of people experiencing homelessness, homelessness rose 24 percent from 2015 to 2016.

STORY: Homeless shelter planned for Delaware veterans 

STORY: Tiny house village plotted for homeless 

During an open forum segment before a recent Dover City Council meeting, Harris and Appling asked city officials to continue efforts to combat the homelessness problem.

“I come here with a plea for help, pure and simple,” she said before the council meeting. “To say that the homeless population in our area is becoming overwhelming is an understatement.”

Dover officials say the city is doing all it can to help eliminate the homeless problem. Mayor Robin Christiansen said the city has successfully housed 80 veterans and their families.

“We are not turning a blind eye," Christiansen said. "Churches and fraternal groups in the city work their fannies off to help the homeless here.”

While zoning issues delay the project, Port Hope and Victory Church officials have begun to lay out the plan for Victory Village so everyone knows their intent.

“It is important for the campground to remain self-sustaining and self-supportive,” Harris said. “These efforts will help in keeping the required daily/monthly fees to a minimum. These fees will provide the income needed to pay the required insurance, utilities and maintenance costs.”

Harris said the plan is for the campground to have 24/7 onsite supervision and support arranged through Victory Church. She said Victory Church has also offered to provide buses and drivers for transportation as needed.

“There will be strict campground rules and adherence to these rules is a condition of their stay,” Harris said. “Respecting quiet hours, no drugs or alcohol in or around the campground, assisting with grounds upkeep and beautification, being a respectful and cooperative campground member are some of the important conditions that will be included in the campground agreement that each campground member will be requested to sign.”

Harris and Kopera believe Victory Village will successfully find resolutions for many of the homeless in Dover and Kent County. They say people need to look no further than tiny house villages in Nashville, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, and Dallas to see the concept has been successful.

“I do this because it’s my calling, my passion, my ministry,” said Kopera. “I love each and every one of them [homeless] and just want to make their lives better. That is what we are doing here.”

Contact Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com or (302) 463-3344.

TINY HOUSE VILLAGE PROPOSAL

• Each cabin will be a 10-by-20 (200 square feet) cabin and include a small kitchen and bathroom and living/sleeping area. 

• The campground would be a walking community surrounded by a privacy fence with a gated entrance. There will be 15 cabins for “permanent” residences and 10 sites used for short-term stays.  

• Cabins would be made available to the most in need and would remain with those who remain productive, rule-abiding members of the campground and are willing to pay the required monthly fee of $200 to $300 a month.   

• Each campground member will have a responsibility to help with the maintenance of the campground and upkeep of the cabin areas. 

• The cabins will be arranged in such a way that they will focus on a common area in which campground members can gather and socialize with grills and picnic benches. The campsites will be located no closer than 50 feet from any other property line, and all lighting will be placed in accordance with the Kent County zoning ordinance.   

• The campground would be “green” in design, providing gardens, fruit trees, berry bushes, solar panels, wind turbines (if allowed), recycling programs, rainwater catchment systems, on-demand water heaters and other eco-friendly systems.