Appeal to nix drug treatment centre in Linden Woods voted down

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This article was published 11/09/2024 (364 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A drug treatment centre will be allowed to operate temporarily in a Linden Woods home despite outcry from neighbouring residents after a tie vote by a city council committee Wednesday.

The Regenesis Centre for Recovery received a conditional use permit from the city allowing it to operate an addictions treatment facility for six adults out of a home while it looks for a permanent location.

More than 100 appellants opposing the facility were listed in Wednesday’s appeal committee meeting agenda, and members heard from several dozen speakers, with most concerned about the home’s proximity to a nearby school and assisted living facility, and calling the canvassing process too narrow.

The vote was split among the four members of the appeal committee: Couns. Shawn Dobson and Evan Duncan voted in favour of overturning the city’s original decision, while Sherri Rollins and Matt Allard were in favour of allowing the facility to operate on Lindenwood Drive East.

A tie vote means the appeal was denied and the facility will be allowed to open.

Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), the committee’s chair, called the facility “needed.”

“This is a home use with very few people living in it. They share what other houses — mine, yours, perhaps — share: people, living, in recovery,” she said before the vote.

The home is 400 metres from Linden Meadows School and 350 metres from Lindenwood Manor.

A city report says the non-profit has received operational funding from the provincial government to provide live-in services for adults struggling with addiction, with priority being given to women, people of colour,and people from LGBTTQ+ and disabled communities.

The centre has said it will use the space until August 2025.

The people staying at the home would have to have already been sober for 30 consecutive days and would be connected with supportive programming.

Among the speakers opposed to the facility were area Coun. John Orlikow, who said he was “still torn” on the issue but did not support the location. He also noted the conditional use permit couldn’t guarantee the facility would cease operations by August.

“The neighbourhood has spoken. They’ve seen it, they’ve all engaged, so I think the most appropriate thing to do is support the appeal today, let (Regenesis) come back with a program that addresses the neighbourhood’s concerns a bit more before we go forward,” Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) said.

Cindy Foster, the Regenesis Centre’s executive director, said eligibility for the program would require an intake process including mental, physical and emotional well-being checks with a health-care professional.

While staff members won’t be on-site 24-7, they will be on-call during evening hours and the programming will focus on establishing the residents’ independence, she said.

Regenesis said “misinformation and stigma” had resulted in the community outcry and that Linden Woods was not exempt from the province’s drug crisis.

“These are people who come from residential neighbourhoods all across our city and province,” she said. “However mischaracterized the individuals are, they are all human beings from all walks of life.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca