City of Powell River councillors voted narrowly in favour of postponing first three readings of two bylaws that could pave the way for construction of a supportive housing complex near qathet General Hospital.
At the October 10 City of Powell River Council meeting, mayor Ron Woznow introduced a motion to delay the matter to the first council meeting in November.
“My reasons are twofold,” said Woznow, after his deferral motion was seconded. “First, we have heard consistently from our director of planning services that we have a significant shortage of staff relative to the workload that the director and his planning staff have.
“The second reason to defer this item is that we are in the middle of a provincial election.”
Woznow said after the election, there will be a new provincial cabinet, plus a new minister in charge of BC Housing.
“At this point, there is no way of knowing whether or not the new government is going to support the initiatives of BC Housing. Why risk utilizing the staff we have in planning for something which may not come to fruition,” said Woznow. “Once a new government is in place in Victoria, we will have an opportunity to be in a much better position to determine when this item, if it should be brought back, is brought back.”
Councillor Rob Southcott said when he was chairing the committee of the whole meeting on October 8, he expected the community would hear a statement of where the city stood on the broad issue that is targeted by this preliminary recommendation that was to have been considered by council.
“Originally, what I would have done is support this, because it is preliminary and doesn’t represent any final decision whatsoever,” said Southcott. “Something has changed my mind.”
Southcott said that recent presentations and correspondence to councillors align with his past experience, which includes 12 years of working with the kind of population that is of concern in the issue of a new housing development. He said councillors had heard from two subject matter experts regarding the initiative, that he had taken into consideration.
Southcott said he supported Woznow’s motion because the delay would not cause significant disruption.
“I have to say I emphatically support housing, but I cannot support the siloed approach between Vancouver Coastal Health and BC Housing,” said Southcott. “I have to be assured there is a reasonable possibility of success before I could support moving forward.”
Councillor Cindy Elliott said she was also in support of the motion. She thanked those people who had talked to her directly about the matter. She said she is in favour of housing people, and that they should not be out in the streets in the cold winter.
“I don’t want to say no to housing, but I am not prepared to say yes, yet,” added Elliott. “Consultation with our community has not helped our community understand the difference between what is being proposed and what is currently existing. That means the consultation isn’t finished. We need to pause here at the city level until BC Housing is able to participate in more and better community consultation so the community can feel involved in coming up with solutions that we need.”
Councillor Trina Isakson said she believes there needs to be more work and time spent on the proposal, but it doesn’t have to be about deferring it to the October 10 council meeting.
“No matter what the future holds, we are going to have supportive housing,” said Isakson. “The model may be different, but supportive housing, I believe, is in the future.”
Isakson said the recommendation that had been before council was to give first three readings to bylaws for permanent closure and removal of a highway dedication, and a zoning bylaw amendment. She said adoption would have to happen at a future meeting, then, the city would have to enter into an agreement with BC Housing.
“No final decision would be made tonight,” said Isakson.
She said she is very supportive of supportive housing, but because BC Housing is not in a position to do any public engagement because of the election, more of that work cannot be done now. She acknowledged that more work between BC Housing and the community needs to happen.
Councillor George Doubt said the matter should be moved forward now while working with BC Housing to maximize the benefit and minimize the negative of any proposal.
“People who are homeless and people who are residents of supportive housing are members of our community and deserve to be considered equally by council,” said Doubt. “I am opposed to this motion to postpone. We will be doing better if we move forward in a small way to provide zoning that may someday turn into supportive housing. I worry about what will happen if we don’t move forward because the problem will not go away.”
Councillor Earl Almeida said what was on council’s agenda was the first three readings of the bylaws, and in order to become finalized, it still needs adoption. He said further conversation is needed with BC Housing and Vancouver Coastal Health before any project moves forward.
“I’d rather get the first three readings done and I’m not opposed to deferring the adoption,” said Almeida.
Councillor Jim Palm said he agreed with deferment.
“We need far more help with the addicted and all the chaos this is causing to the addicted and the surrounding neighbourhood and businesses,” said Palm, “We need to listen to all. I’m hoping we vote for a delay.”
Voting in favour of deferment were Woznow, Southcott, Elliott and Palm. Opposed were Almeida, Isakson and Doubt.
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