Despite months of protest from business owners, neighbours, and even the area councillor, City Staff are recommending the Planning Committee approve a request by the Salvation Army to rezone a section of Montreal Road in Vanier to allow for a proposed shelter project.
The multi-use facility includes 140 emergency shelter beds, addiction services, transitional housing, street outreach programs, and more. It would replace the services offered at the Salvation Army’s Booth Centre on George Street, in the ByWard Market.
In a report prepared for the Planning Committee’s November 14th meeting, Staff say they recommend approving the rezoning application because the proposed project is the relocation of an existing shelter, and it is designed in such a way that it would not “preclude the ability for Montreal Road to develop in a manner that meets the intention of the Traditional Mainstreet designation.”
The project has been fiercely opposed by residents and business owners, who are concerned the shelter could bring crime, drugs, and other problems to the area. They also say there has been a distinct lack of public consultation on this project. Rideau-Vanier Councillor Mathieu Fleury has also opposed the project publicly, saying the proposed model doesn’t work. He believes that mixing emergency shelter beds with detox services is not a recipe for success.
On Thursday, City Solicitor Rick O’Connor denied a request by Councillor Fleury to have this application go before a joint meeting of the Planning Committee and the Community and Protective Services Committee. The former deals with land-use and zoning, while the latter is in charge of how the City pays for social services.
In a memo to City Council, the city’s top lawyer said the application before the Planning Committee deals strictly with the zoning and use of the land. If the City were to mix zoning applications with social services, it could open the City up to challenges.
“If Council were found to have based its decision on housing policy considerations, such as those regarding funding and operations, instead of or as well as planning considerations, that decision may be found to be outside of its Planning Act jurisdiction” O’Connor said. “Staff believes such a decision would be likely to be overturned by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) if an appeal were to be undertaken.”
In a second memo, O’Connor also dismissed the idea that a shelter cannot go on a traditional main street and he says, because the zoning application by the Salvation Army is for the relocation of an existing shelter, and not a new shelter, it wouldn’t impact the shelter cap for the Rideau-Vanier ward.
Fleury had been citing a 2008 City Council decision to limit the number of shelters in the ward and restrict their locations, but O’Connor said the current City Council is not bound by the policy decisions or directions of a past Council.
If the Planning Committee votes to approve the Salvation Army’s application, it would still be required to go before full City Council November 22nd.