Westview Ratepayers Society (WRS) has issued a position paper on the new BC Housing supportive housing proposal for Joyce Avenue, calling for the project to be put on hold.
In August, an announcement was made that BC Housing, in partnership with City of Powell River, was proposing to develop a new supportive housing and shelter building on leased city-owned land, adjacent to qathet General Hospital. The proposed facility would include 43 single-occupant units and 20 shelter spaces.
The WRS position paper begins by stating that the society understands the need to support housing the homeless in the community.
“All residents need decent housing,” the paper stated. “However, we believe this needs to be implemented in a way that guarantees the creation and operation of this housing in a way that minimizes any negative impacts upon the local community.”
The paper states that the society believes any new building should be located in a different area of the city where there will be minimal impacts to local residents, business and other services, but provides adequate access to transit for clients.
WRS president Rick Craig, in an interview, said the society has a number of concerns and has been working on the issue for considerable time. He said a community meeting was held in the past and afterward, community members were polled about their thoughts on the issue of supportive housing.
“I remember that we had more than 400 responses,” said Craig. “We went to city council and what we were trying to do at that time was engage with Lift Community Services and discuss community concerns.
“There was a feeling that everything had been locked down and we weren’t able to get the community's concerns about the impacts addressed.”
Craig said WRS has been engaging with Lift, which is the contractor managing the current supportive housing facility on Joyce Avenue.
“Our approach has always been that we’re not against providing housing for the homeless and those in need, but we’re trying to figure out how to do it in a way that has minimal negative impact on the community,” said Craig. “We found out that many of the issues were issues that are things that Lift couldn’t handle and were more to do with the model and the way that BC Housing is working.”
Craig said WRS has met with BC Housing. He said WRS expressed that it is not opposed, but that BC Housing can’t just provide housing and not address some of the management or model issues that make it difficult for supportive housing to work.
“We still find that a lot of the major concerns have not been addressed,” said Craig. “We obviously want to support housing for the homeless, but at the same time, we don’t want to create an even bigger problem than the one that exists.”
That has resulted in WRS indicating to city council that the new development should be postponed until the issues can be worked through and to try and get a better model.
“There’s no results-based management,” said Craig. “We don’t know what the objectives are and how they are evaluated, and how well it is working. If the impacts of the housing are creating community problems, that’s not good and it is not working.”
Craig said WRS has been asking for a community impact plan so that with additional supportive housing, there are not more problems for local neighbours.
“We have concerns about the location [of the new facility],” said Craig. “Is it a good idea to put two of these facilities very close together? The neighbourhood is already concerned and now we are going to look for a doubling of the amount of people being housed.
“Right now, we’re dealing with a situation where, when problems happen, there seems to be very little that can be done to address them, other than to call the police. We’re saying that’s not good enough.”
Craig said BC Housing organized a community engagement meeting, but the consultation was more about what BC Housing was doing, rather than listening to the community. Craig said WRS wants a meeting where the community can explain its position and have BC Housing hear from the community.
Craig said WRS has been working on the matter for years and the reality is, they are not anywhere near resolution.
“We’re not the only community going through this; you hear it all over the province,” added Craig. “We’re trying not to complain. We’re trying to say: ‘look at how we can work together to make this work.’ That means the service provider has to be open, but more than that, it means BC Housing has to be open.”
Craig said WRS is planning a town hall meeting on September 23 at 7 pm in the Evergreen Theatre to discuss the proposal for the new facility at Joyce Avenue. According to a flyer, WRS is seeking public feedback and input to finalize its formal position to present to city council and BC Housing in October.
Craig said the WRS membership and Powell River ratepayers Facebook page members have been polled, and 93 per cent of the 320 respondents said they were opposed to the current housing proposal.
After the town hall meeting, WRS representatives are going to try to meet with city council members individually to explain the WRS position, according to Craig, and at the October 8 committee of the whole meeting, WRS will have a delegation asking councillors to support the WRS position.
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