Sullivan County Legislature Scrambles for a New Housing Shelter Location

The Sullivan County legislature voted against scheduling a public hearing to operate a gateway housing center on Pittaluga Road in Thompson, N.Y., on May 15. The hearing would have been the second public hearing on the proposed long-term lease in Thompson, following months of debate that ballooned amongst local officials and community members.

Sullivan County Communications Director Dan Hust confirmed the legislature will return to the drawing board to search for a new site location. “The majority of the Legislature has decided to consider other potential sites for the facility, focusing on the Monticello area,” wrote Hust in an email to Radio Catskill.

The vote failed in an 8-1 vote, with District 5 Legislator Catherine Scott being the only legislator who voted in favor of the public hearing. District 8 Legislator Amanda Ward raised concerns at the meeting that the Pittaluga Road location would be difficult to access, but Scott said that Move Sullivan could add the stop to its route.

“The longer it takes, the more expensive it’s gonna get,” said Scott, who chairs the Health and Human Services Committee. “My fear is that we are going to lose out on this grant, that that funding may not be available next year because of how volatile things seem to be in the world.”

The proposed gateway housing center in Thompson would have provided 20 beds for single adults as temporary transitional housing. The facility, located on county-owned property, was expected to serve an estimated 80 to 100 people annually. If awarded, the $8 million proposal to build the center would be funded through a state grant.

In April, the legislature failed to pass the proposal to authorize the Thompson location by a supermajority vote. Some opponents of the project cited public safety concerns and steep project costs, while advocates warned that the legislature has stalled for years to move the needle on the county’s housing crisis.

Years relying on a patchwork housing model

For more than 15 years, Sullivan County has leaned on a patchwork system of placing unhoused people in hotels and motels across Liberty and Monticello for emergency housing. In 2024, Sullivan County shelled out $3.4 million alone for its emergency housing model, with an average of $80 to $100 per night per room, according to Sullivan County Health and Human Services Commissioner John Liddle – a cost he anticipates will only increase.

During the May 8 Sullivan County health & human services committee meeting, Liddle said he is regularly flooded with rate increase requests from hotels.

“I see that accelerating much faster than what I see HONOR’s ability to do it, controlled in-house,” said Liddle about neighboring shelter models like HONOR, the housing agency operating the Orange County housing shelter in Middletown.

The $3.4 million Sullivan County spent last year does not include any wraparound social services for those at risk, such as mental health support, emergency food assistance, or job placement support. Liddle explained that the county continues to pay for case management contracts separately.

The recent Pittaluga Road proposal is not the first location the county has considered for a shelter. For years, Sullivan County has explored several potential locations, from Park Avenue in Monticello in 2010 to Peston Street in Monticello in 2015 – all met with both fierce opposition and support.

Liddle pointed to overwhelming evidence from public and nonprofit experts that shows the ‘hotel-for-housing’ model is an inefficient use of public dollars. After a 16-month-old toddler died from a fentanyl overdose at the Liberty Knights Inn Motel in 2023, a New York Grand Jury report called for a “complete rethinking of the use of motels to house vulnerable populations in Sullivan County.”

Time is ticking

Legislator Scott worries that the opportunity to build a county housing shelter will pass, given rising inflation costs and political uncertainty.

“This project was a $3 million project a few years ago, and because the legislature waited and we kicked this aluminum can down the road, it slowly becomes silver and then gold and then platinum, so $3 million ballooned to $8 million,” said Scott.

Hust of Sullivan County told Radio Catskill that the timeline to construct the shelter is still unknown. “There’s going to be, I’m sure, opposition to any location that is chosen. Unfortunately, there’s a stigma associated with homeless people and homeless shelters – an unfair one, in my opinion,” said Hust.

To apply for grant funding from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Sullivan County will need to have a site location identified.

The legislature will reconvene on June 19, with hopes of setting a new public hearing for a new site location.

Image: Exterior of the Knights Inn in Liberty, N.Y., one of the hotels Sullivan County contracts for emergency housing services (Photo Credit: Knights Inn)