County lawmakers learned recently that the county’s Social Services Department is being forced to move the homeless to neighboring counties as portions of hotels the county uses to house the homeless have been closed due to code compliance issues.

In April, the Ellicott Code Office had to shut down the portion of the Clarion Pointe Hotel, formerly known as the Comfort Inn on Route 60 just outside of Jamestown, that houses Department of Social Services clients.Then earlier this month, the former Econo Lodge on Route 60, Fredonia was completely shut down. It, too, had been housing DSS clients.

We won’t say this was inevitable, but it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. The hotels locally that have been used to house the homeless aren’t attracting travelers for a reason. Housing the homeless – especially without adequate security or oversight – created a situation where further deterioration of these hotels was nearly guaranteed despite the influx of county and state money into these facilities.

What was already a bad deal for taxpayers has now only gotten worse. In addition to footing the bill for hotel rooms outside of the county, Chautauqua County is responsible for getting the homeless from these out-of-county hotels back to Chautauqua County for appointments and then taking them back to the hotel where they’re staying. Those who pay attention to the news remember what a budget buster it was to be moving Chautauqua County Jail inmates outside the county when the jail was overcrowded. Doing the same with the homeless will be an even bigger budget hit to the Social Services budget.

We need to find safe, stable housing for the homeless in Chautauqua County, most of whom are coming from the Jamestown area. County officials noted the success of the PASS program, which the state approved in March 2025 to provide an additional housing allowance in excess of existing programs. PASS has helped bridge the gap between state housing assistance programs and rising rents for apartments in the building while shining a spotlight on the lack of affordable housing options in the region. There is also a need for supportive transitional housing that helps people deal with the issues that left them homeless in the first place. Those needs are nothing new. We’ve been writing about them – and county and state officials have been talking about them – for years.

Solutions are needed now, because if the county has to ship more homeless county residents to Erie and Allegany counties the costs could get out of control quickly.

A few weeks ago we opined that one reason the county was able to pay for some essential services like an expansion of its emergency services fly car program or assistance with shared services projects was the strength of its fund balance. We face the likelihood of eroding that financial strength if we don’t bring the homeless situation under control. We’ve expressed exasperation and frustration in recent weeks as we follow the twists and the turns the homeless housing situation has taken. Now, we’re expressing apprehension, because this situation is getting worse rather than getting better.