Burlington mayor plans county’s first permanent homeless shelter

BURLINGTON —The City of Burlington’s heart has grown three sizes larger with Mayor Steve Sexton’s decision to commit to building permanent shelters and offer social services for perhaps 125 unhoused people on city-owned property on Pease Road. It will be the first facility providing permanent shelter in Skagit County.

In a call with the Weekly News Friday, Sexton noted there is no cold-weather shelter in the county. “We have done too little for too long,” he said, referencing governments and community organizations. He termed the 1-acre property with a warehouse on it “ideal.”

Sexton wil...