‘This park is our backyard’

Winnipeg city council’s property and development committee voted Monday to spare a green space in the West End after more than a dozen people spoke out against it being used for supportive housing.

Coun. Vivian Santos asked the public service to amend a proposal for a five-property supportive housing project for vulnerable and homeless people to exclude vacant land at 546 Sherburn St., which is used as a community park.

More than a dozen people spoke in opposition of the proposed site.

“I think this amendment strikes the balance between providing some supportive housing … to (substitute for the) the lots proposed,” Santos said. “As the area councillor, I have a lot of lots that were declared surplus, which could be used as supportive housing instead of 546 Sherburn.”

Santos proposed a vacant lot at 795 William Ave. be considered as a site for the housing project, but noted the city can’t continue to offer supportive and low-income housing in her ward.

“Point Douglas continues to be the No. 1 area for children and families living in poverty, so when you concentrate people living like that it exacerbates the issues,” she said.

Santos sympathized with issues brought forward by West End residents speaking against the project.

Sherburn resident Matt Salo said he was in favour of supportive housing, but not at the expense of a park.

“We’ve been accused of being (Not in My Backyard proponents), but please understand this park is our backyard … this park gets used and we love it so much,” he told the committee. “It’s our gem.”

“Point Douglas continues to be the No. 1 area for children and families living in poverty, so when you concentrate people living like that it exacerbates the issues.”

Delegate David Landreth asked why the project couldn’t be built in one of the neighbourhood’s several vacant lots.

“I drive by these lots, these parking lots … it feels like a failure of imagination,” he said.

A petition started by another Sherburn Street resident calling for the city to reconsider the proposal had received more than 600 signatures as of Monday afternoon.

After the committee voted to exclude the lot, a delegation in the chamber’s gallery applauded.

“This was never about a crusade against supportive housing, this was a crusade for our park,” Salo said after the meeting. “This space means everything to us.”

The plan states the city would partner with the province and non-profit organizations to provide shelter for people facing unique housing challenges, including refugees and youth exiting provincial care, people who are leaving hospitals, moving out of encampments, at risk of gender-based violence or coping with mental-health issues.

The committee voted to rezone the city-owned lots to allow the housing, while the Manitoba government will choose non-profits to provide services to tenants, decide which sites will be home to which groups and provide capital and operating funds.

Coun. Cindy Gilroy, whose Daniel McIntyre ward encompasses the West End, was unavailable for comment Monday.

“This was never about a crusade against supportive housing, this was a crusade for our park… This space means everything to us.”

Duncan asked an amendment be made for another proposed site at 75 Poseidon Bay, which would send it back to the area’s community committee for input, as well as feedback from Coun. John Orlikow.

Orlikow (River Heights) asked for more information on the project, while the executive director of a nearby clinic argued the proposed site would be an inconvenience for patients.

Jeff Leiter, executive director of the Pan Am Clinic Foundation, said the organization didn’t receive enough information about the project and worries client safety and well-being will be compromised.

The Pan Am Clinic is located on the adjacent lot and the proposed site includes patient parking.

Lissie Rappaport, manager of the city’s Housing Accelerator Fund office, said the site’s development would reduce parking by as many as 15 spots and there would be plenty of room for the four-storey, 25-unit building.

The other proposed sites are located at 1168/1172 Plessis Rd., 626 Stella Ave. and 2546 McPhillips St.

The hearing also heard from those in favour of the overall project, including Carolyn Ryan, the assistant deputy minister of the province’s Homelessness and Addictions Department.

Ryan detailed the use of the buildings and the importance that they fit into already established neighbourhoods to provide a sense of normalcy to tenants.

Several supportive housing units exist across the province, such as the Bell Hotel on Main Street, Concordia Village on Molson Street and Ten-Ten Sinclair on Sinclair Street.

“It is in our best interest … that these buildings fit into the neighbourhood,” she said, adding the identified sites have city services and supports existing nearby.

The buildings typically have two staff members working at all times, but could increase depending on the needs of residents. The services range from case management, like social work, to more intense services, such as psychological aid.

Some of the units are part of the province’s Your Way Home homelessness strategy. Ryan says since the NDP government took office, housing units have become available at a rate she hasn’t seen in 25 years, but the need for more still exists.

“We need to build, and we need to use our existing assets,” she said.

The plan will go through a final vote before council at a later date.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca