Around this time last year, the PHS Community Services Society was making news for a scandal that rocked the nonprofit.
Remember?
This story broke in the spring of 2014 when the provincial government released a torpedo into the good ship PHS that sank its good name in the Downtown Eastside, where the nonprofit manages hotels, the city’s supervised injection site, needle exchanges and other services for the city’s most vulnerable.
Four of its managers resigned.
The audits, conducted by Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and B.C. Housing, revealed lavish spending practices by PHS staff, including trips to Europe, New York, Disneyland and Hawaii, where they stayed in expensive hotels and travelled by limousine.
I could give you more from the audits, but the reporting on this is old news.
What’s new is the City of Vancouver wants to work out a deal with the PHS — which still exists under a government-appointed board — on a piece of property at 58 West Hastings.
The property was once owned by developer Concord Pacific, which gave it to the city as a community amenity contribution in return for the rezoning of its property at 10 Terry Fox Way.
Some of you are likely familiar with the chunk of land on West Hastings, which was turned into a garden a few years ago. The PHS had operated the garden under an agreement with Concord for at least three years.
Now that the city recently took over title of the property, the PHS wants to ensure it can continue to operate the garden. The city has suggested a nominal rent fee of $10 that will carry the nonprofit until at least November 30, 2015.
A city staff report going before council next week recommends the partnership with the PHS, saying the garden and urban agriculture programs, along with bee hives managed by Hives for Humanity, “add positive contributions to the neighbourhood and contribute to many of council’s priorities and goals outlined in the city food and healthy city strategies, as well as the Greenest City Action Plan.”
But why only have an agreement in place until November?
“The garden is an ideal use of the site until the site is redeveloped for housing purposes anticipated in 2016,” the report said.
The report didn’t specifically say what type of housing it has planned for the site, which at one time served as a protest camp during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
So I phoned up Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs to see if he could shed some light on what “housing purposes” actually means. Meggs said the city hasn’t decided whether it will be social housing, marketing housing or a mix.
“Everything I know about it is in the report and that’s all that’s been decided by council,” Meggs said. “Under the Downtown Eastside plan, [staff] would obviously prioritize affordable housing as a key goal but we haven’t seen any specific staff proposal.”
Added Meggs: “I know that various people have expressed an interest [in the redevelopment of the property] but I don’t think it’s gone further than that.”
Meanwhile, the garden grows.
mhowell@vancourier.com
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