Cranbrook City Council has voted 5-2 in favour of rezoning a parcel of land on 16th Avenue North for a homeless shelter.
Hosting a virtual public hearing, there were over 172 people watching online and many people spoke up to voice their support or opposition to the zoning.
The zoning amendment has permitted Supportive Housing, Supportive Services, and Public and Social Services as an accessory use. The amendment also changed the zoning designation of the property from Community Recreation Zone (P-2) to Special Institutional Zone (P-4).
Floorplans for the shelter would have 39 year-round beds for men and 10 for women, as well as a dining room, washrooms with showers, and an overdose prevention site for users of the shelter. The overdose prevention site would be similar to services provided by ANKORS East Kootenay, which would share the building, as well as Operation Street Angel.
Some residents called for the decision to be delayed to gather more facts from independent sources, while many voiced their support of the location because of its proximity to support services. On the flip side, some others were against the zoning because of its proximity to the Cranbrook Memorial Arena, Kinsmen Arena, and Mount Baker Secondary School and other public amenities.
As of the Special Council Meeting on Monday, there were over 400 pages including letters, emails, petitions, and attached documents expressing the public’s views and thoughts on the homeless shelter and the location at 16th Avenue North.
Each City Councillor’s thoughts will be time-stamped with their specific views and thoughts on the rezoning.
Support for the Zoning
Councillors John Hudak (1:29:43), Wayne Price (1:35:13), Ron Popoff (1:41:23), Mike Peabody (1:44:19), Norma Blissett (1:47:27) were all in favour of the zoning.
Hudak said there isn’t a better location in Cranbrook because of the proximity to all support services.
“This facility has support services right on site. There is nowhere else in town that we could put a shelter in that would have that kind of support,” said Hudak before the vote. “If this goes ahead, these folks basically walk out the door on this place and they’re virtually tripping over support – the support is in the same building.”
Price feels the experts from BC Housing have weighed in and supported the location, and so does he.
“There’s been a review undertaken by the Ministry, by BC Housing. If you think about it, they’re the relative provincial agencies who are the experts and the senior authorities in the province – respected these types of occupancies and zonings.”
Popoff believes approving the location is ultimately the right thing to do. However, he does want to hold BC Housing to account for their comments in the engagement process that they will be making efforts for the shelter to be a good neighbourhood-friendly facility.
“They’re saying that this is a good neighbourhood and they’re going to be good neighbourhood citizens, and all these real or perceived fears out there, we’re going to hold them accountable and I hope senior staff will also hold them accountable as we move through this. The bottom line is I just think this is the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do here for our community.”
Peabody said the area is already a hub for the homeless and vulnerable individuals and that what he’s seen is a shelter would give them a place to live and it will take them away from sleeping on the stairs at the hockey rink, take needles away from the surrounding area because of staff cleaning up nearby.
“We’re also in a position of privilege. We are deciding if people less fortunate than us can live beside a hockey arena, if they can live beside a high school, and we need to recognize that. These are not all bad people, there are some people with issues, but guess what? There’s services right there to help them with those issues. For me, I cannot think of a better location because of that.”
Blissett shared similar sentiments as the other Councillors supportive of the location. She said the delay in the Public Hearing allowed more of the public to have their say and for City Council to review their opinions and thoughts before their decision.
“I do feel satisfied that they (BC Housing) will work with their service provider to assist the clientele to the best of their ability, also that they will work with the neighbours to deal with any issues that may arise as a result of the shelter. They do want to be a good neighbour, that is what I took from their presentation.”
Opposition to the Location
While Blissett, Peabody, Popoff, Price, and Hudak were in favour, both Councillor Wes Graham (1:50:29) and Mayor Lee Pratt (1:52:48) were opposed.
Graham believes the location just isn’t right for the homeless shelter due to safety concerns for the users and the neighbours.
“My concern is the location and I am opposed to this rezoning because I feel the safety and security concerns have not been addressed for both the users and the community-at-large as there is a supervised consumption site in the facility, also called harm reduction,” Graham told City Council. “I don’t think there has been a thorough review of the pros and cons weighed out with the amount of youth activity around the site and it raises questions that have not been answered.”
Graham didn’t dispute there is a need for a shelter but he wants to make sure that there is safety and security of the Cranbrook citizens and the shelter users.
Mayor Pratt agreed with Graham that there isn’t debate on whether Cranbrook needs a homeless shelter, he just isn’t sure of the location. Pratt said services are being provided at the site now and no matter where the shelter is located, those services will still be there for the homeless and vulnerable.
He said there isn’t any urgency for the shelter as the temporary shelter at the Travelodge is proving sufficient.
“There is no urgency for this. March 31st is in place with an extension possible from the Travelodge. The Travelodge gives these people a room, a bed, a TV, a bathroom, four walls for security and privacy and a door that locks. The temporary shelter will provide a cot, a nightstand, surrounded on three sides by a four-foot pony wall, no privacy, no personal bathroom or TV and very little security.”
“With this shelter, it’s going to attract more homeless people because that’s the orbit of their social being. Just because we’re putting some of them inside a shelter, it’s not going to alleviate the problem, it’s going to add to it,” added Pratt.” My concern here is safety.”
Pratt said reports from visitors and users of the arena noted urine and feces in the area, reports of theft, discarded needles, people being accosted in the arena or parking lot as well as concerns from some City staff for their safety.
One of Mayor Pratt’s other major concerns was the use of drugs at the location as part of the harm reduction or overdose prevention site.
“Drugs are illegal, if a member of the public is caught with illegal drugs they are arrested and face criminal charges – okay with homeless addicts bringing illegal drugs obtained from illegal drug dealers and consuming them on the site. Breaking the law is breaking the law. I cannot in good conscience support this. Get them the help they need to get off this terrible cycle of addiction, do not continue to enable it.”
The Mayor isn’t comfortable that BC Housing did a full review as they were approached by a community member and accepted the proposal without informing or initially discussing the plans with the City.
“Building a temporary shelter for 39 men and 10 women is a mere band-aid solution to a larger problem. Let’s do it right. Let’s do it right the first time. We need a bigger shelter to accommodate more people. The issue of homelessness is only going to get bigger.”
Pratt said Cranbrook needs to instill pride within the homeless and give them self-worth and self-esteem so they can contribute to society. He feels that the homeless need privacy and security and that the location, in his eyes, doesn’t meet those requirements.
Despite the Mayor’s thoughts, both he and Graham were the only two on City Council opposed to the zoning amendment. The vote came down 5-2 in favour of the zoning amendment.
Before the vote was cast, Wayne Price said it doesn’t matter which side each City Councillor voted. In his view, at the end of the day, all City Councillors have the best interest of the community at heart.
“Our approach is different,” acknowledged Price. “I hope that the public at the end of the day will support the decision that Council makes and move forward and try and support it.”
Ahead of the vote, Mayor Pratt also talked about the potential backlash from the community on social media and receiving abuse or scrutiny about City Council’s views or thoughts on the topic.
“There’s nothing going to come out of your comments other than other people engaging with you and it means nothing. In the big scheme of things, it means nothing other than people talking. I would appreciate it if social media didn’t’ blow up over this because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter,” Pratt said just moments before the vote. “Your opinion is your opinion, that’s fine, you’re entitled to it, but you don’t have to share it on social media, where a lot of people that read it don’t really care.”
After the decision, Councillor Wes Graham then made a Notice of Motion for a future Cranbrook City Council meeting that the City approach BC Housing to explore a permanent supportive housing unit in the community.
The full Public Hearing can be watched back below. Here are the timestamps for the meeting:
- Meeting Begins (20:00)
- Public Hearing Opens (25:34)
- Public Hearing Closes (1:27:45)
- Councillor John Hudak (1:29:43)
- Councillor Wayne Price (1:35:13)
- Councillor Ron Popoff (1:41:23)
- Councillor Mike Peabody (1:44:19)
- Councillor Norma Blissett (1:47:27)
- Councillor Wes Graham (1:50:29)
- Mayor Lee Pratt (1:52:48)
- Pre-Vote Discussion (2:03:50)
- Adoption Vote (2:07:30)
