On Monday, the Town Council will have another hearing on the special use permit for the IFC's new shelter for men on Martin Luther King Boulevard. The council has had much pressure from opposing sides on this, and it will not be an easy choice to make.

UNC leased the land to the town, and the town proposes to lease it to the IFC, which will greatly reduce the cost. In a difficult economy, that reduced cost means it is more likely to actually happen. The IFC only has to raise money to prepare the site and build the building, a somewhat easier task.

The plans for transitional housing for 52 men seem as though they really would help to end homelessness for those who go through the program. Since the IFC can only accommodate 52 at a time, those men will undoubtedly be well screened to be successful. This should eliminate some of the worries of the neighbors.

The 17 men who can come on very bad weather nights will gather at some central downtown location, possibly the IFC office in Carrboro, and ride a bus to the MLK location. The next morning they will be taken by bus again to a central location. So they will have no opportunity to be roaming the nearby park or streets, which again should ease some of the neighbors' worries.

As the council weighs the arguments for each side, I hope it will be able to distinguish those that have true significance from those that are part of a NIMBY reaction.

Susan W. Brewer

Chapel Hill