The Vestry of St. John's has submitted a use permit application to the town of Ross to house up to 35 homeless men once a week for 17 weeks from December to March at the St John's Church. Here are the facts: The REST program cannot screen the clients for weapons, drugs, criminal backgrounds of any kind or even ask for verifiable identification of the clients who will be guests in our town during the winter months. Real estate values are very highly likely to be affected and this shelter will force sellers of their homes to disclose the presence of the shelter at least in areas close to the shelter.  The town's smoking ordinance will likely have to be amended or these men will enjoy an exemption.  There is no way to guarantee that the clients of the shelter will leave.  They will be free to linger close to our school and in our neighborhoods after spending the night in the shelter.  And most importantly, there are no guarantees that our community will not be at risk as a result of this program.  Our sense of security and the ambiance and charm of Ross may well be altered by the presence of this shelter, permanently.  While the notion of helping the homeless is admirable and is something the community should be compelled to pursue, it should not be forced upon our community with almost no meaningful time for public discourse or discovery (less than two weeks from a well contained and controlled distribution of public notice email, to the Nov. 4th Town Council Meeting).  By signing this petition, you believe that the issue needs more time for public input and discovery, and should either be denied or delayed until more information can be properly gathered and distributed and more security "loop holes" can be closed.

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