For going on two months now, the Columbus City Council has been weighing the possibility of providing city-owned land to the Golden Triangle Regional Homeless  Coalition for a “tiny home village” that would provide transitional housing for homeless people in our community.

At its Feb. 7 meeting, the council declined to act on the proposal, tabling the matter until council members can see what these tiny home facilities operating in other cities look like.

We take no issue when the council delays decisions while performing its due diligence. Nor do we object to proceeding on projects with an abundance of caution.

But in this case, we wonder if there is much value in prolonging the process. In any project, there are some “unknowns and unknowables,” but in this proposal what is already known and knowable should be sufficient to move ahead with confidence.

This is not some fly-by-night, for-profit out of town company looking to establish a bus service in the city. Nor is it a request from another out-of-town company to alter the city’s billboard regulations for the company’s financial benefit.

The Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Coalition (GTRHC) has a well-established track record, with leaders and board members who are some of the most-respected members of our community. Likewise, the GTRCH is partnering with other local organizations whose credibility is not seriously questioned – Loaves and Fishes, The United Way, Columbus/Lowndes Housing Authority, and St. Vincent de Paul, to name a few. In 2019, another group – 100+ Women Who Care Columbus – showed their faith in the GTRHC by providing its first Impact Award to the organization.

Since its founding in 2014, the GTRHC has spent $180,000 providing emergency lodging (typically no more than a day or two when weather conditions are perilous) at area hotels for hundreds of homeless people.

That assistance, as important as it is, has never been the GTRHC’s primary goal. The mission has been to provide transitional housing – weeks or months – that will allow homeless people a real chance to get back on their feet before assuming the burden of rent, often the most costly necessity people face. The GTRHC will continue to provide emergency lodging at hotels, but hotels are not long-term solutions.

What this tiny home village represents is a major opportunity for GTRHC and all who support its mission. The site, a roughly two-acre parcel located on Airline Road between the District 4 fire station and the Humane Society, is of little value to the city.

But it’s an ideal site for the GTRHC’s plans. Additionally, Kevin Stafford of Neel-Schaffer is providing engineering services pro bono.

The GTRHC has already raised enough funds to build seven homes that are part of the initial 10-home project. You could consider that earnest money.

What it needs is low or no-cost access to the land.

For the past two months, GTHRC officials have patiently answered questions about their plans and provided any information requested by the council.

There is no indication that council members are not supportive of the proposal. But unnecessarily prolonging action benefits no one. Each day that passes is one day longer the GTRHC will have to wait before it can begin fulfilling its mission.

It’s also one day longer before our community has a long term solution to transitioning homeless to a more stable environment.

In light of that, we urge the council to move forward with the project.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

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