Council makes exception for Sleep Center

In a unanimous decision, the Moses Lake City Council on Tuesday approved Ordinance 2969, which states the Sleep Center on the intersection of East Broadway Avenue and state Route 17 would be allowed in the Commercial 2 zone as lodging.

“The city needs to provide for sleeping shelters in the municipal code because the structures that are being used aren’t considered habitable per the building code,” said Moses Lake planning manager Vivian Ramsey.

The proposed definition for the Sleep Center structures states they do not exceed 90 square feet, do not have utilities, and are used for sleeping by indigent persons on a temporary basis.

Permitted by the Washington Administrative Code exceptions for indigent housing guidelines, sleeping shelters should be permissible for use in Commercial 2 zones when they are administered by a public agency or non-profit organization, Ramsey said.