sa国际传媒官网网页入口

A local bookstore is facing an administrative hearing with the Code Enforcement Department on Monday after repeated violations from the City of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 for allowing unhoused people to congregate and sleep in the store鈥檚 parking lot.

Gillam Kerley, owner of Quirky Books, at 120 Jefferson NE, has allowed homeless people to sleep in the parking lot for over a year and a half and says he felt he had a responsibility to offer people a safe place to sleep at night, even though the city has issued the bookstore numerous notices of violations of the zoning code.

Currently, the parking lot is home to 18 people between 12 tents.

鈥淲e think it鈥檚 important to be treating unhoused people as human beings,鈥� Kerley said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e gotten to know the people in our parking lot, and we want those people and their property to be safe.鈥�

On Monday, Kerley and the bookstore will face an administrative civil enforcement hearing, where they will possibly face consequences for zoning violations. The city has the option to administer fines on the store and issue an order that requires Quirky Books to remove the homeless people from the parking lot.

The city鈥檚 Planning Department didn鈥檛 comment on the hearing last week.

Mayor Tim Keller鈥檚 administration has had a large focus on unhoused people, from increased encampment sweeps to the unveiling of its newest policy: Safe Outdoor Spaces, which are organized, managed camps where people who are homeless can sleep overnight in tents or vehicles. sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Point in Time count in 2024 determined there were 2,749 people experiencing homelessness in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, which marked a 14% increase from the year before. But advocates for homeless people have said the number could be higher.

When asked how his administration reconciles its desire to shutter Quirky Book鈥檚 efforts with its call for more Safe Open Spaces volunteers, Keller said there are lots of options for people to help and for people to get help.

鈥淲e want to offer all of those options,鈥� Keller told the Journal in an interview. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why ... we announced that we鈥檙e totally open to Safe Outdoor Spaces.鈥�

But he said it鈥檚 important for people to go through the official channels.

鈥淲e want more folks to apply to host (Safe Outdoor Spaces),鈥� Keller said, 鈥淚t can be a book store. They just have to apply.鈥�

In a statement posted on the store鈥檚 Instagram page, the bookstore urged citizens to attend the hearing to 鈥渆nsure that the Keller administration and the City鈥檚 hearing officers know the community is watching and supports our right to assist our unhoused neighbors鈥�.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening right now is that the city鈥檚 increasing sweeps of encampments and the criminalization of homelessness on public property means that private property owned by someone who is willing to allow them to camp is really the only place they and their property are safe from the city,鈥� Kerley said.

鈥淔rom a public policy standpoint, it鈥檚 better to have them camping on our property, where they鈥檙e welcome, than being in parks and sidewalks where they鈥檙e maybe not welcome or may be interfering with other people鈥檚 use of those properties.鈥�

However, one man鈥檚 good deed may be another鈥檚 nuisance.

Jude Brunner, a manager at the Firestone Complete Auto Care store just around the corner from Quirky Books, said the unhoused people use the bathroom near the store, causing it to smell of feces and urine. He said the company spoke to city officials about the issues in the area.

鈥淭hey walk through our parking lot all day long and a lot of the times,鈥� Brunner said. 鈥淭hey kind of scare away customers as well because customers leave their cars here with us, and sometimes we don鈥檛 have enough room in the shop to lock them all up, so it鈥檚 the risk 鈥� that鈥檚 the biggest thing.鈥�

He added that other building tenants in the area, like marijuana dispensary Score 420 Nob Hill and two other shops, also raised issues about the unhoused people traversing the area.

鈥淭he businesses nearby would prefer that we not be doing this,鈥� Kerley said.

Though all the businesses noticed an uptick in unhoused people in the area, Kerley said that shift may have also come from encampment sweeps that have shifted where unhoused people settle every night.

鈥淭he New Mexico Constitution guarantees everyone a right to seek and obtain safety and the right to their property,鈥滽erley said, 鈥渁nd we are enabling the unhoused people on our parking lot to secure these rights under the Constitution.鈥�

Journal staff reporter Justin Garcia contributed to this report; You can reach staff writer Nakayla McClelland via email at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com.