SALLY ANN GETS GREEN LIGHT
Planning committee votes 6-3 to send controversial Vanier proposal to council
Vanier objects but committee gives OK
After months of rancorous debate and three long days of discussion at Ottawa City Hall, the Salvation Army’s controversial plan to build a new homeless shelter in Vanier received the planning committee’s blessing on Friday night.
With a 6-3 vote, the committee passed the political hot potato to city council, which will have the final say on Wednesday.
Several attempts to defer the final decision to a future council meeting were rejected.
But as committee chair Jan Harder concluded: “This is not the end of the conversation.”
Minutes earlier, Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury — who has steadfastly opposed the shelter project, which he contends is neither a good fit for his community nor is aligned with the city’s official plan and housing-first policy — received a standing ovation from dozens of people in the public gallery.
Speaking in French, Fleury said it warmed his heart to represent Vanier residents and highlight the concerns many have raised.
Should council give the Salvation Army’s plan a green light, the head of the SOS Vanier citizen’s group said he’s “fairly certain” an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board will be filed.
Even though Drew Dobson said he knew the committee vote would likely go the way it did, he said “it’s disappointing.”
After facing a barrage of criticism for not properly consulting the community on the shelter plan, the Salvation Army pledged to improve.
“We could have done a better job consulting with the community and we’re trying to make up for it,” said spokesman Glenn van Gulik. “We’ve got a long road ahead.”
The charity wants to build a 9,600-square-metre facility that includes shelter, day programs, medical care, addiction services and administrative space. It would replace the Concorde Motel beside the current Salvation Army thrift store.
There would be a total of 350 beds, with the emergency shelter using 140 of them. The remainder would be for other programs.
The property needs to be rezoned for a shelter.
Over three days this week, the planning committee — and several city councillors who aren’t on the committee but will ultimately cast a vote at council — heard more than 100 delegations, including the leaders of several key socialservice providers who came to the Salvation Army’s defence.
The lack of affordable housing in Ottawa, they said, means emergency shelters such as the purpose-built facility the Salvation Army proposes will continue to be needed, even as the city strives toward implementing a housing-first framework.
Current and former clients also spoke passionately of the need for the services to be provided.
But it was the dozens of Vanier residents — some of whom brought a ukulele or were joined by their children — who highlighted the complexity of the issue before committee.
Vanier is already doing its part for vulnerable people, they said, by having a methadone clinic, women’s shelter, group homes, and motels, including the Concorde Motel, converted into emergency shelters in their neighbourhood.
Many fear the shelter will crush any chance of Montreal Road ever reaching its full potential as a thriving, attractive traditional mainstreet and bring unsavoury behaviour to a neighbourhood many have lived in for several generations.
The most controversial planning application Ottawa city council has considered since the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park landed on the public’s radar at the start of summer, when the Salvation Army filed the paperwork for its proposed facility at 333 Montreal Road.
Mayor Jim Watson was quick to come out publicly in favour of the plan, challenging opponents to suggest another location if not Montreal Road. The mayor had been clear he wanted one shelter out of the city’s historic ByWard Market.
An information session in July organized by Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury drew so many concerned residents that dozens were turned away, prompting Fleury to organize another session.
Opponents, including Fleury, quickly dubbed the Salvation Army’s proposal a “mega-shelter” and unified behind the SOS Vanier campaign, led by Drew Dobson, owner of Finnigan’s Pub.
They held protest marches on Montreal Road. More than 3,900 people signed a petition opposing the development, and the neighbourhood soon became dotted with close to 300 SOS Vanier lawn signs.
Criticized for not consulting the public sooner, the Salvation Army held its own open house at a conference — outside of Vanier — in mid-September.
The public was able to pose questions directly to staff about the organization’s plans for the various services it’s poised to offer at the new facility.
The following month, the city’s planning department endorsed the Salvation Army’s request to rezone the site, and recommended committee and council do the same.
The city doesn’t have specific rules in its official land-use plan for whether and how a shelter can be built on a “traditional mainstreet” like Montreal Road.
Shelters for the homeless aren’t on the list of things permitted, but nor are they explicitly forbidden.
A 2008 report, referred to frequently this week, did, however, conclude the number of shelters in Ward 12, which includes the ByWard Market, Sandy Hill and Vanier, should be capped at four.
The Salvation Army says its new proposed shelter would not exceed that number because it is relocating its facility from its current home on George Street — a position the planning department agreed with.