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Criticism greets temporary housing project

More than 100 people packed a heated public meeting Wednesday held by the City of Vancouver and many of them expressed worries over a 157-room temporary housing complex for the homeless. By mid-November, the Quality Inn at 1335 Howe St.
Peter Karroll
Downtown resident Peter Karroll makes a point during a small group discussion at a public meeting to discuss a temporary housing project on Howe Street. Photo: Dan Toulgoet

More than 100 people packed a heated public meeting Wednesday held by the City of Vancouver and many of them expressed worries over a 157-room temporary housing complex for the homeless.

By mid-November, the Quality Inn at 1335 Howe St. will be turned into a temporary housing complex for many former Oppenheimer Park campers. Some of those campers have been placed in a temporary shelter in the former Kettle of Fish restaurant at 900 Pacific St.

Yaletown resident Gary Lyseng said he never received notices of the meeting and was made aware on Monday through word of mouth. Lyseng recounted seeing a homeless man urinating on his building and noticed other changes to the neighbourhood with the onset of three similar housing solutions near his home.

“Several years ago the promise is that we’d spread them out. Not put them all downtown. It’s not that I’m better than them. We paid a high price for this property already, why should we have to share our sidewalks,” he said.

 “I’ve noticed that the park is quite often, the rules aren’t abided by. Like, you’re supposed to be out of there by 10 and when you walk, they’re everywhere. They’re just sitting and all their [junk] are around.”

Court documents filed by the Vancouver Park Board reveal many of those moving in are suffering from drug and mental health issues, or both.

Brenda Prosken, the city’s general manager of community services, said the city was not able to consult the public before leasing the complex on Howe Street due to the influx of homeless campers from Oppenheimer Park.  

“We were under a lot of pressure in order to seek and find alternate accommodations for the homeless that had gathered on that site,” said Prosken.

Both temporary housing solutions are drawing criticism from the community on what they say is the city’s lack of consultation with the public. According to the city’s communications branch, close to 1,400 letters explaining the opening of the shelter were sent to area residents and at least 10 businesses were visited by city staff. Security guards at the shelter continue to hand out information sheets on the shelter to pedestrians.

The crowd also heard from Julie Roberts from the Community Builders Foundation, a non-profit chosen by the city to operate the space. The foundation plans to provide staffing 24 hours a day, tenant support services such as offering two meals a day and creating a community advisory committee to identity community concerns.

Participants at the meeting were divided into small groups led by city staff. The brainstorming session generated several common concerns, which included calling for tighter security in the area, children’s safety, tenant self-cleanups, and maintenance of building aesthetics. Some residents wanted the temporary housing facilities removed altogether.

Debra Rooney was one of the residents turned away at the door because tickets for spaces at the event ran out at the last minute. She said she it was not the additional garbage or people wandering the streets that concerned her but hearing of people being “harassed” or “threatened” and “increased drug activity” in the area.

“It’s a political move. There’s an election coming up, it makes them look good and on top of that, they’re very developer friendly. So when this is done at the end of the two years, there’ll be a high rise condo going into this unit,” added Rooney.

The media was asked by city staff to refrain from recording group discussions. Attendee Peter Karroll objected to the idea and called for a vote. Prosken defended the city’s position stating it was to protect those who wanted to share their opinions safely.

— With files from Mike Howell

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