How a new downtown fence will help the city police trespassing

Megan Raposa -

Simplified: The city is looking to lease an empty parking lot north of the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House downtown with plans to erect a $70,000 fence to both keep unhoused folks from hanging out there and give Sioux Falls police more authority to step in and intervene when they do.

Why it matters

  • Sioux Falls City Council unanimously advanced a proposal Tuesday night to enter a five-year lease of the parking lot between Eighth Street and the Bishop Dudley House. The property is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls via St. Joseph Catholic Housing – the group that also owns the adjacent shelter.
  • The reasons for the lease are two-fold. First, as Police Chief Jon Thum told councilors, it gives cops more authority to intervene when people are loitering, trespassing or committing crimes on that lot. Right now, police have to wait for property owners to initiate police intervention because it's private property.
    • Second, the lease agreement also gives the city first dibs on purchasing both the parking lot and the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House if they go up for sale in the next decade, according to Planning Director Jeff Eckhoff.
  • City officials, councilors and diocesan officials said there are no plans at this point for the city to purchase or redevelop the property. Though, it's worth noting both parcels of land are within a block of the site of the proposed Riverline District. All parties made it very clear that this lease and fence is simply a band-aid solution to addressing broader homelessness challenges.
"I don't think there's anybody that thinks we’ve come up with this massive great idea for how to address homelessness," Councilor Rich Merkouris told Sioux Falls Simplified before voting to advance the proposal in Tuesday's meeting. "I don't think this is it. We're not going to have one less homeless person because of this."

Tell me more

The city's plans – if the lease agreement gets final approval from councilors later this month – include installing the fence with an electric gate that will allow Bishop Dudley staffers and city personnel to continue to use the lot. It'll also be used for storage, Eckhoff said.

From the police perspective, the hope is that the fence will deter people from hanging around in that area, Thum said.

  • Thum also noted that last year alone there were nearly 2,700 combined calls for service to that area between police, the fire department and emergency medical services.
"It’s not uncommon to look at our call screen when I pull it up at any time of day and see calls (at that area)," Thum said. "If another spot in town had this type of call volume we would be looking for solutions."

The newly reinvigorated Whittier Neighborhood Association is also making sure neighbors have a seat at the table in ongoing conversations, though the group isn't taking a stance one way or another on the lease agreement.

"This is a complex and nuanced situation that is also socially volatile," said Lim Bun, neighborhood association president. "We are committed to engaging in constructive dialogue to find solutions that enhance the safety and quality of life for everyone in our neighborhood."

What happens next?

The proposal for the lease agreement will be back in front of the City Council next week for final approval.