City OKs east Van modular project

The City of Vancouver will build more units of modular housing to help homeless people, this time in east Vancouver.

The city has approved the development of temporary modular housing at 525 Powell St. When it opens in May, the project will provide 39 units of housing for women. Each unit will be 250 square feet and include a bathroom and a kitchen.

The project is part of a $66-million provincial plan to build 600 new units of temporary modular housing to address the immediate needs of homeless residents in Vancouver.

The Atira Women’s Resource Society, a non-profit housing operator, has been selected to oversee management and support services, including life-skills training, counselling, meals, and referrals to health and community-based programs.

The city says it received 15 comment cards and four emails from the public. Of those, many were in support of the project, while others were concerned about other non-profit and social-housing developments nearby, the future management of the building and its impact on the neighbourhood.

So far, 156 units of modular housing have been approved around the city.

There has been opposition from residents in Marpole, where tenants have begun moving into the housing complex. Some neighbours of the two buildings at West 59th Avenue and Heather Street have objected to its proximity to local schools, including Sir Wilfrid Laurier Elementary and Ideal Mini across the street and nearby Sir Winston Churchill Secondary.

They ’re concerned about tenants with high-needs behaviour such as hoarding, addiction and untreated mental illness.