Overview

The goal of the project was to identify three feasible locations to support an emergency homeless shelter in Beaver County. A series of quantitative methods were developed to contrast and compare potential shelter sites. Zoning and location requirements of municipalities were researched to establish a short-list of potential sites. The selected sites were then ranked based on their ability to meet project parameters including whether they had proper zoning, ease of obtaining a zoning and building permits, ease of access to the property by public transit, the walkability of the neighborhood the property is located in, and the presence of other related resources nearby.

Based on the methodology above, 34 municipalities were eliminated immediately due to the lack of public transit. The zoning ordinances of the remaining municipalities were reviewed to determine the zoning districts that would permit an emergency homeless shelter. These areas were then cross referenced with a list of properties that were for sale or lease to obtain a total of 43 potential properties.

The ranking criteria was weighed to narrow the list to five properties which were included in the final report along with the background information and research methodology.

Year: 2018

Status: Completed