Lawsuit launched
First shot fired in legal battle over old Victory Church homeless shelter
City officials made good on their threat Wednesday to pursue legal action against the B.C. government over a homeless shelter in downtown Penticton that’s operating in contravention of the local zoning bylaw.
The city’s petition challenges the B.C. government’s invocation of paramountcy – a legal concept that allows the province to overrule municipalities on matters pertaining to its use or development of land – in order to keep the old Victory Church shelter running at 352 Winnipeg St.
“Local governments’ tasks in making land use bylaws, and in deciding whether to vary from them, affect the community as a whole, and are intended to reflect its collective interests,” states the petition, which was filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
“Those interests are complex and often divergent: councillors’ decisions balance an array of social, economic, political and other considerations. These decisions are fundamentally an exercise in democratic government, which ought not unilaterally be trumped by the preference of a provincial agencies.”
The petition seeks reimbursement of the city’s legal costs and an order declaring that the local zoning bylaw does indeed apply to 352 Winnipeg St.
Even though BC Housing is listed as the only respondent, the petition also puts on notice
Attorney General David Eby; Bobby Nia, who owns the old Victory Church; the Penticton and District Society for Community Living, which operates the shelter; and the Provincial Rental Housing Corporation.
The shelter was originally permitted by the city to operate during the winter months only, after which BC Housing said it intended to shut the facility. But just weeks before the scheduled April 1 closing date, BC Housing asked for a fresh permit to keep the shelter open continuously for another year.
Based on concerns about the shelter’s impacts on its neighbours, council denied that request in March. Following that decision, Eby, who also serves as B.C. housing minister, said he would invoke the power of paramountcy to overrule council’s decision and keep the facility open to help address the homelessness crisis that exists in Penticton.
The petition argues there are two main reasons why paramountcy isn’t an option in the Penticton case.
The first suggests BC Housing can’t claim it’s immune from the same local zoning bylaw it once followed to run the shelter.
The second suggests the B.C. government isn’t actually using or occupying the land itself, so it can’t claim paramountcy.
The city’s petition was filed by Vancouver lawyer Ryan Dalziel, who has been practising since the age of 22 and is also currently representing the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. in an auto-insurance case in the Supreme Court of Canada.
BC Housing has 21 days to respond to the petition. Council in April authorized city staff to spend up to $300,000 on the legal action related to the old Victory Church.