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A man sits on the sidewalk on Friendly Avenue wrapped in a sleeping bag in downtown Greensboro. The man said he didn’t have a place to stay for the night.

An example of a pallet house.

Workers assemble a pallet house.

An example of a pallet house.

A man sits on the sidewalk on Friendly Avenue wrapped in a sleeping bag in downtown Greensboro on Tuesday. The man said he didn’t have a place to stay for the night.

Crews create a village of pallet houses.

GREENSBORO — With cold weather approaching, the City Council approved a plan Monday to buy “pallet houses” to temporarily house the homeless, as well as provide a safe overnight parking area for people living in their cars.

By a 7-1 vote, the board agreed to pay $535,014 to Pallet PBC to purchase 40, two-person units. The money is contingent on the approval of the structures by the city’s fire marshal and Technical Review Committee.

The units are not actually built out of wood pallets. They are constructed with fiberglass reinforced plastic with a foam insulating core and aluminum framing, according to the Washington-based company’s website.

Each prefabricated unit is 64 square feet and would include a 1,500-watt heater and air conditioning. They are estimated to last up to 10 years.

“There is ventilation for circulation,” Assistant City Manager Nasha McCray explained. “It is pest-proof. It is mold resistant and mildew resistant as well.”

The units would have temporary electricity, water and sewer connections, but could also operate on solar or generator power.

For up to 20 units, there would be separate restroom facilities with two sinks, two toilets and two showers. The pallet houses would be grouped in a village-type setting.

Michelle Kennedy, director of the city’s Neighborhood Development department, said city staff is assessing potential sites. The city wants to locate the village and parking area near medical and social services that homeless people already are using.

McCray also said both the pallet house village and the safe parking area could have case management personnel to help homeless people access the services they need. The city would seek a request for proposals from organizations interested in providing those services.

“I think this is the one time we need to do something immediately before we have people freezing on the sidewalks,” Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter said.

However, Zack Matheny, who voted against the proposal, said the city needs to look at other options.

“I don’t think we’ve exhausted all the resources on how we can think about this,” Matheny said. “There are plenty of empty big-box stores that have bathrooms and have a lot of space that I think we can utilize for a lot less money and house just as many if not more people.”

Scott Jones of Tiny House Community Development also spoke against the plan, saying the money would be better spent putting people up in motels.

“Let’s work in a collaborative effort with all of these hotels,” said Jones, adding that the pallet houses don’t meet North Carolina building codes. “This is too quick. This is a lot of money.”

Kennedy said Guilford County spent about $800,000 to house 85 people in hotel rooms early during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So that also is a pretty expensive proposition,” she said.

Councilwoman Tammi Thurm agreed, stating that at least the city would still have the pallet houses to use for emergency situations.

“The hotel stay is cash outlay over and over and over again every year,” she said. “And it gives us no flexibility for emergency housing.”

The Greensboro City Council gave conditional approval Monday to buy pallet houses as emergency shelters for homeless people.

Scott and Emma Holland, who also spoke at the meeting, complained that the Guilford County Continuum of Care was not consulted. The organization is a countywide coalition of nonprofits and businesses tasked with helping the homeless.

Kennedy said the partnership has shown little interest in immediate solutions.

“There comes a time … where we can continue to meet and plan the next meeting or we can act,” Kennedy said. “And we are at a place that we need to act.”

Matheny also criticized the cost associated with the “safe parking” idea, which would be about $290,000 when case management, security and bathroom facilities are included.

“You can essentially put folks … in some type of residential unit for $1,500 a month,” he said.

Kennedy agreed that housing people in buildings would be better. However, “the reality of the current moment is we don’t have those units available,” she said.

Other emergency shelter options included in Monday’s presentation were temporary housing at the old Regency Inn & Suites on O’Henry Boulevard and opening the warming center at the Interactive Resource Center on extremely cold nights.

“The combination of all these programs will allow us to accommodate between 200 to 250 individuals,” Kennedy said. “We know the number (of homeless individuals) is much greater than that.”

Matheny has been critical of the city money spent on Regency Inn. The city loaned the nonprofit Partnership Homes $3 million to buy the motel and remodel it to house homeless people, and although it was used as an emergency homeless shelter last winter, it hasn’t been used since April.

Kennedy said last week the delay is because Partnership Homes doesn’t have the money it needs to rehabilitate the property. She said the nonprofit submitted a request to Guilford County for $6.5 million from its American Rescue Plan Act money. However, the county did not approve the request.

“I don’t see how we can support just spending another million dollars to buy something else when we’re not taking care of what we own,” said Matheny, referring to the city’s interest in the Regency Inn.

Contact Kenwyn Caranna at 336-373-7082.

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The changes are aimed to address complaints about people obstructing sidewalks and doorways and leaving behind trash.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners also approved a pay increase of at least 3% for all its employees. 

Greensboro police say the cameras only record vehicles and license tags, not the people inside the vehicle.

All of the requests came from outside of Guilford County and some of the information sought is confidential, Elections Director Charlie Collicutt said. 

The City Council gave the go ahead to spend nearly $2.5 million of the $59.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding it received.

The city annexed 1,094 acres during the first six months of this year — surpassing the record-breaking 736 acres it annexed in all of 2021.

A man sits on the sidewalk on Friendly Avenue wrapped in a sleeping bag in downtown Greensboro. The man said he didn’t have a place to stay for the night.

An example of a pallet house.

Workers assemble a pallet house.

An example of a pallet house.

A man sits on the sidewalk on Friendly Avenue wrapped in a sleeping bag in downtown Greensboro on Tuesday. The man said he didn’t have a place to stay for the night.

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