Neighbours say they are concerned about the city’s plan to move the Connect Centre to Braidwood Road.
A group of neighbours to the proposed project in east Courtenay have banded together to voice concerns about the Connect Centre homelessness shelter moving to 925 Braidwood Road. In an interview with the Record, resident Scott Larsen said he’s organizing with a group of six neighbours.
“We feel the process is going ahead without consulting the neighbourhood,” said Larsen. “Our number-one issue is a lack of information.”
After BC Housing this month announced it purchased 925 Braidwood Road for a supportive housing facility and a homeless shelter, Larsen said he was surprised. Like several neighbours who have spoken with the Record, he said he’s fine with the supportive housing proposal but worries about the Connect Centre moving next door.
“If you go by the Connect now, our question is if it’s going to look like that?” he said. “The city is going to have a really big pushback from the neighbourhood if that’s what it’s going to look like.”
Larsen told the Record he met with acting mayor Melanie McCollum and city manager Geoff Garbutt on April 23 to field some questions – and learned the plans for the new project would not look at all like the atmosphere witnessed for the past few years at 685 Cliffe Ave.
This would be due to the “purpose-built” nature of construction, he heard. As the intent to manage a shelter would be built into construction from day one, the new facility would include features that are not being used at the Connect Centre on Cliffe Avenue.
This could include details as specific as landscaping, council heard on April 10. Vancouver Island director of regional development at BC Housing Sarah Smith in an update to council noted even landscaping efforts could be included to segregate the property and minimize community impacts.
RELATED: Update on BC Housing facility proposed at Braidwood Road
The current property at 685 Cliffe Ave. is an old commercial building. Just a few feet from Cliffe Avenue, it does not make use of such purpose-built features.
Another neighbour, Eroca Lynden-Burch, met with the Record on April 19 in a group of eight neighbours. Directly across the street from the proposed Braidwood property, Lynden-Burch also worried that commotion due to the shelter would run-off into the neighbourhood.
“Where are they going to go” if people cannot use drugs inside the new facility? “They are going to go into the neighbourhood” she said. She added that the nature of shelters means people are continuously coming and going.
In the same group of eight residents, neighbour Paul Locke shared similar concerns. He wondered: with only 40 shelter spaces and 60 supportive housing spaces, and more than 270 homeless people in Comox Valley, will the property see people sheltering outside?
“You’ve got 3.1 acres here,” said Locke of the grassy property. “That can hold a lot of tents.”
Locke cited Coun. Doug Hillian at council’s meeting on April 10 as saying the Connect Centre has to turn away people every night. If it moves near the residential neighbourhood and begins turning people away, that could have big impacts on the community.
In a statement to the Record, BC Housing noted that the proposed shelter would include built-in security. The non-profit chosen to run the facility, which has not been decided yet, would be responsible for managing the shelter and the area around the property.
The statement also wrote that BC Housing plans to reach out to local businesses and neighbours to share more information this spring. The communication is planned to take place ahead of rezoning the property.
Larsen told the Record he and other neighbours are forming a group and may hold a press conference to share their views. He did not specify a date. Another neighbour told the Record she was also organizing a committee-type group to give voice to the neighbourhood about the proposal.
“If they’re not going to bring the meeting to us, let’s bring the meeting to them,” said neighbour Barbara Bird. She complained of not being alerted that the project was being considered until the property was bought.
All neighbours who spoke to the Record said they learned of the proposal through social media or the news.
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