Boyle Street Community Services (BCSC) cannot move to its proposed new location after the city’s subdivision appeals board overturned the planning permission.
Elliot Tanti said staff, customers and supporters of Boyle Street were disappointed by the decision.
2:15 The City of Edmonton is hearing an appeal for a new community services building on Boyle Street
“This decision will delay construction of the okimaw peyesew kamik – King Thunderbird Center and mean that life-saving services desperately needed in downtown Edmonton will be hindered,” Tanti said.
Story continues below the ad
The organization plans to move from its home on 105 Avenue to Rogers Place to a building at the corner of 101 Street and 107A Avenue near the Victoria School of the Arts.
BSCS said the current building is old – “literally falling apart” – and not accessible to people with reduced mobility. The organization said it had to make the move so it could continue to serve the nearly 3,000 homeless people who live in Edmonton — a number it says has nearly doubled since before the pandemic.
Ann Stevenson, councilor for O’Deamin Ward, said she was surprised by the SDAB’s decision.
“The potential loss of services in the area is something that causes concern given the urgent needs that we’re seeing,” said Stevenson, whose ward includes both the current and proposed locations.
Read more: Boyle Street Community Services’ plans for new Edmonton location face resistance
Read more
-
Boyle Street Community Services’ plans for a new Edmonton location are facing resistance
On Nov. 10, the board heard from 16 complainants who, according to Tanti, “intentionally mischaracterized the services provided by Boyle Street and defamed those they serve.”
Lawyer Janice Agrios, representing the Chinatown and Area Business Association and the Chinese Benevolent Association of Edmonton, said the new facility would not meet land use bylaws.
“The zoning that we applied for was the same zoning that we’ve operated under at this facility for many, many years,” said Jordan Reiniger, executive director of BSCS.
Trend now
Trend now
Story continues below the ad
Reiniger said BSCS has already spent $8 million on the project.
“Every time Boyle Street does something, there’s a lot of unevenness in the work we do,” he said.
Read more: Edmonton’s Boyle Street Community Services unveils name for new facility, 75% of fundraising goal reached
Members of Edmonton’s central community raised concerns during the appeal hearing about how the move would affect businesses.
There are fears that there will be more social disorder such as vandalism, broken windows, sniping and people defecating or urinating around the building – leading to damage to businesses and personal property.
“People (have) the feeling that if Boyle Street leaves the community that these problems will magically disappear as well. But we know this King Thunderbird Center is part of the solution to the challenges facing the core,” Reiniger said.
“It is deeply worrying and disturbing when it is seen as part of the problem. And it is disturbing and disturbing when an organization or group like SDAB confirms this.
2:01 Push continues to find solutions to homelessness in Edmonton
Alice Koss, president of the McCauley Community League, said at the appeal hearing that she wants to see an increase in services offered in other neighborhoods for people who are homeless and struggling with addictions.
Story continues below the ad
“The decision certainly comes with a degree of relief,” Koss said.
“But it’s bittersweet because we also know that Boyle Street really needs a new building and that they need to be supported by the city and the province to find an alternative site, so it doesn’t feel like a victory. It feels like, you know, ‘What’s next.'”
Koss said her neighborhood is now home to 86 percent of the city’s shelter beds and six of the largest social service organizations.
2:01 The community in Edmonton’s Chinatown is rallying for safety
“It’s very important to talk about (the city’s) commitment to decentralizing social services out of Chinatown,” she said. “So putting a new one in Chinatown is completely at odds with what the city has committed to doing.”
Despite the outcome of the appeal hearing, the BCSC said it would move to the new center anyway.
Story continues below the ad
“The organization plans to move forward with the King Thunderbird Center and will explore all recourse options in the coming weeks,” Tanti said.
Read more: Edmonton committee discusses extra winter shelter space in emotional meeting
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Add Comment