Fred Taylor on the Bowen Road Rezoning for “Wet” Housing
This post was written by Fred Taylor, respected Nanaimo watchdog, and was submitted by him for publication on the blog. It contains the body of his presentation to Council at the May 5 Public Hearing which will again continue on May 11. It raises important issues about the process which has been followed in this rezoning and is worthy of all our consideration.
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I speak against Bylaw 4000.506, a Bylaw to rezone 1406 Bowen Road for the purpose of low barrier “wet” housing.
I am deeply concerned, as the Council has already committed 1406 Bowen Road in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Province dated Nov. 12, 2008 for a specific purpose.
This Public Hearing/rezoning, in my opinion is a farce, a mockery of the law.
No one could convince me, every member of this Council is here tonight with an ‘open mind’ to later provide direction. Your direction by documentation has already been decided.
The MOU should have stated certain properties subject to a Public Hearing / rezoning process.
Often, I hear the ‘buck passing’ of who selected the sites in the MOU.
To date, the City has not offered any evidence of actual participation of BC Housing in site selection.
BC Housing offers no evidence as well. They refuse to jeopardize their relationship with the municipal government.
Mr. Horn was asked in person Friday morning April 8, 2011 for the active file in regards to 1406 Bowen Road, as a usual opportunity for the Public prior to a Public Hearing.
He refused, stating he had to attend meetings about Balmoral Hotel issues and would have the file for Monday review. He also stated there were only a few emails between B.C. Housing and the City in regards to site selection.
Now we have conversation suggesting there was no ‘on site’ inspection by B.C. Housing.
Sue Bate of the Executive Office of B.C. Housing states that they “don’t have steadfast rules about timing (in regards to immediate use of funding), if site not able to proceed, we would look for alternate sites.”
Greg Steves, Executive Director, Housing Policy Branch, Ministry of Energy and Mines states
“The city is responsible for taking the lead on site selection…..sites are selected by local governments.”
Lori Wanamaker, Deputy Solicitor General states
“discuss potential site alternatives with your Local Government, sites are selected by Local Government as per the MOE agreement.”
Abbotsford’s first project has been cancelled, “inappropriate in a residential neighbourhood.”
Yes, we have an Official Community Plan.
The purpose of our Community Plan is to act as a guide for decision making on planning and management issues.
The Plan directs objectives including:
“maintaining the character and livebility of existing neighbourhoods”
“to build community spirit and cohesion”
Plan Nanaimo Advisory Committee has recommended the application be approved as presented.
But just a minute, PNAC was presented with FALSE INFORMATION in regards to public consultation.
June 17, 2010
– Open public meeting
– 250 people in attendance
THIS INFORMATION IS FALSE
– meeting was for Townsite/Hospital area not 1406 Bowen Road
– John Horn’s minutes states only 115 people in attendance
October 21, 2010
– Once again this meeting was for Hospital area not 1406 Bowen Road
THIS INFORMATION IS FALSE
October 28, 2010
– meeting with Chamber of Commerce
THIS ORGANIZATION DOES NOT GOVERN QUARTERWAY NEIGHBOURHOOD
February 7, 2011
– meeting with Chamber of Commerce
AGAIN, THIS ORGANIZATION DOES NOT GOVERN QUARTERWAY NEIGHBOURHOOD
February 8, 2011
– meeting arranged with local businesses of the Quarterway area at the Athletic Club. Public not invited.
February 17, 2011
– Public Meeting?
-This meeting was not advertized as a public meeting.
To further add to the misrepresentation of public consultation, the unadvertised removal of cemetery status from 1621 Dufferin Crescent using questionable minutes of a meeting attended by 115 people for discussion of neighbourhood crime, public disorder, parking, and affordable housing.
Order in Council No.1427 (1994) has long expired, no one (as former owner) remaining to re negotiate / agree to removal of cemetery status from the title of the land although this information has been used to support removal of cemetery status from the land.
The Council has also been presented with the same FALSE INFORMATION, going unchallenged at the 1st and 2nd reading of the bylaw for rezoning 1406 Bowen Road on March 28, 2011; a resignation is in order !!
Council has in hand a petition of 411 signatures against this rezoning from the Quarterway neighbourhood, including 37 local businesses.
Council has heard from a few supporters of 1621 Dufferin Cres. and 1406 Bowen Road but please
– consider where they reside, not our neighbourhood.
– consider their activities in our community; does an ‘alternative’ to our neighbourhood require social change ?
– would any of these supporters have any direction in our community without their programs ??
WE NEED TO BUILD A HEALTHY COMMUNITY !!
ALSO, THERE HAS BEEN NO ATTEMPT TO CONTACT THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION.
You as Council may entertain a third reading for the rezoning of 1406 Bowen Road, but soon (just 7 months away) the neighbourhood will have their opportunity and I remind you there are a lot more concerned neighbours than a few votes from the 1406 Bowen Rd. and 1621 Dufferin Cres. housing projects.
Fred Taylor
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
As I understand it, occupants of this ‘wet’ housing are expected to keep their habits within their own walls and will be evicted if they break the rules — unlike the patrons of the Quarterway pub and liquor store.
Experts in mental health/addiction state that unless the housing is ‘wet’ it is useless; that addicts need help to get off the habit. Threats and bribes won’t work — you can live here if you are sober — will not help an addict. The addiction is stronger than common sense. If we give them homes and stability and help they have a much better chance of success.
Of course, we don’t seem to want them to succeed — it seems many would prefer stacking them in an empty warehouse in an industrial park, out of the nice little residential neighbourhood where drunks and drug addicts are free to live unsupervised.
It certainly takes a lot to speak out against these proposals. The Quarterway area and Hospital Area neighbors have been called NIMBY’s, Homeless Haters, Without Compassion, Misinformed, we have been misquoted or half quoted by local newspapers, left out of the homeless plan process completely and expected to take on more social helps in our neighborhoods then we have already. None of the local papers have informed their readers about the effort it took for HANA to have a meeting with the mayor and councilors to dialogue with and to supply them with suggested alternative sites. Is there any memory by council or local media as to the effort HANA took to visit the Columbian Ctr. Society and see how they run “scattered sites” as this was our first suggestion as an alternative to large buildings. Does the media mention at all our research into the suggestion of a widely respected Urban Planner that states this type of housing works best with approximately 12 persons at the most. It is our feeling that this type of housing is much easier for neighborhoods to absorb then the currently proposed large apartments of 36 to 40 something in each. For those who are employed CMHA, I was recently at a Forum where a certain CMHA employee in the opening address made mention of the conflict regarding housing in the local media, and made a further comment out to the audience of “housing for all”. Did this person make any mention of how the neighbourhoods are not against housing, and that we have tried to discuss housing alternatives other than the current plan with council and staff to no avail? No, this person didn’t…..thereby perpetuating the rhetoric out there that we are all, Homeless haters, without compassion, misinformed etc. It would appear for the Hospital area and Quarterway area to vote against a proposal that CMHA, VIHA, the local newspaper media, Non Profit service providers, city council and city staff appear to want and go to great lengths to push back against us is rather brave of us don’t you think? We have had members of our areas have their jobs threatened and one in particular that I am aware of lost her job with a non-profit provider because she spoke out on the issue! Others have been told to keep quiet, with subtle threats made to their jobs if they don’t. Is this right? I think NOT! The article above by Fred is a copy of his latest address to council at the third Public Hearing on the rezoning of the Bowen Rd location to show everyone what the neighborhoods are up against. Have any of the newspapers printed information such as this? I wonder why? Could it be that they are paid by the city to write what they do? Or…..slant it towards what the city wants to put out there as a public relations campaign? Where is the democracy in this? In closing, with regards to the above comment made by Liz. Did you know that these persons according to the Memorandum of Understanding will be considered tenants? That means, they can come and go as they wish. No one can control where they do their drugs off site. No one can stop them from having a guest or two….they are tenants. No one can stop dealers from coming into the neighborhoods and setting up shop to service their clientele. Expecting a hardest to house addict with a possible criminal background, and possible concurrent disorder to keep their drugs in their rooms is possibly naive. You yourself state that the addiction is stronger than common sense. Why not ask the Hospital Area and Quarterway Areas what they would agree to instead of putting so much effort into trying to count us as unfeeling people. Some of us have had addictions, been homeless and/or have family members with mental illness. We aren’t all unfeeling…..but we certainly don’t want to be used as door mats, bullied into taking a plan with ethically questionable tactics and without any consultation from us. It’s time for a new beginning on this, it never should have got to this point. This is supposed to be a democracy…it sure doesn’t seem like it from our vantage point. We are extremely frustrated and there needs to be some amends made soon. A thank you to private media such as Nanaimo City Hall Blog for being willing to print Fred’s address in it’s entirety.
Few speak against the “Housing First” principle associated with the Bowen Road rezoning, while many speak against what is better described as very poor planning and abysmal implementation to date.
It is my opinion that the Bowen Road site has been poisoned so deeply as to be fatal for all concerned if it goes ahead and that our efforts should now be focused on better planning and community communication in the other sites which should be simultaneously identified. It is very unfortunate that this effort is coming forth as piecemeal tactics rather than as strategic plans involving all who need to be involved, i.e. VIHA, BC Housing, the proposed facility operators, the City and the community at large as well as the communities immediately surrounding the selected facility sites.
The benefits of a good purpose with a good plan and thoughtful implementation can benefit us all. For more about Housing First see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_First .
Fred Taylor gave a very good presentation on May 5, 2011. He clearly illustrated how the City has not involved the neighborhood residents and how meetings have been misrepresented to the government to get rezoning.
None of us are against housing for the homeless or people at risk of homelessness. However, in Nanaimo there are many other people who fit into these categories, not just the active alcoholics, drug addicts and people who are mentally ill. There are many working poor trying to support their families while being financially and emotionally exploited in their efforts to find housing. Usually they end up in substandard cramped suites. Why not help these people who are trying to make a difference in their lives and who want to be productive citizens of Nanaimo? There are also senior citizens who have worked all of their lives in Nanaimo, paid taxes, been productive law-biding citizens and are now finding themselves unable to afford full cost seniors’ facilities. They are taking up acute care beds in the hospital because they have no safe place to go. They are HOMELESS as well. They need affordable safe housing.
People keep trying to compare the wet housing to the night shelter across from Brechin School. The people who are using that facility arrive at 7:00 p.m. and leave by 7:00 a.m. They are not in the area when the school children are there. Also, they are not allowed to take their alcohol and drugs into the shelter as they would be able to with the proposed “wet housing”.
Another gentleman from the Salvation Army spoke. The New Hope facility in downtown Nanaimo has benefited a lot of people and no one argues the fact. However, again there is no alcohol or drugs on the premises. Again, the comparison isn’t there for “wet housing”. The tenants of wet housing are active alcoholics, drug addicts, and people with mental health issues who are receiving the housing with no preconditions of abstinence. They are free to come and go as they please as any tenant can. They are not going to stay in their rooms when the needed drug suppliers are on the street and the alcohol has to be bought somewhere. Also, the people in the neighborhoods have legitimate worries when the “wet house” residents run out of money for supplies. They are going to help themselves to whatever is available in the neighborhood.
The City Council has been taking advice from well-paid people who SHOULD have done a lot more research on housing the hard to house and also a lot more research on neighborhood impact. Misrepresentation of research and topics of community meetings have been been presented to the public and the B C Housing Authority and Government Land Rezoning by city officials. John Horn has been quoted as saying these proposed housing projects will enhance our neighborhoods. Does he think we are all idiots?
The City should proceed to house some of the hard to house people in the facility being built on Wesley Street and then help some of the other deserving inhabitants of Nanaimo in the other housing.
Please say no to the rezoning of both properties (1406 Bowen Road and 1621 Dufferin Crescent) until more research has been done along with collaborative consultation with the tax paying, law biding neighborhood residents.
Good Morning Ms Clark, Mr Coleman and Ms Bond
I’m writing again in regards to two proposed wet houses in Nanaimo. I would like to ask you to put a halt on the funding until the City of Nanaimo and the two neighbourhoods affected can come to some kind of agreement. The City of Nanaimo is not listening to the residents here and it is starting to make people sick. Its affected my own family as well as my neighbours and friends. We have had people come down with shingles…she missed two weeks of work, skin eruptions where her skin literally peeled off her face, not once, but twice…she missed over two weeks of work, my husband has been in a walk in clinic, two visits to his own doctor and a trip to emerg in the last two weeks with sky rocketing high blood pressure and blood sugars to name just a few. All brought on by stress. On Thurs night at the 3rd hearing of the rezoning application one of the presenters finished her presentation and left the auditorium. Another lady and I knew something was wrong and followed her. She had a major panic attack in the lobby, so much so that one staff member asked if he could call an ambulance for her. I sat in the back seat with her as we drove her home, trying to comfort her and realized what a horrific toll this is taking on my neighbourhood. I haven’t slept all night since I found out about this in August. I clench my teeth constantly which gives me a constant headache. The stress that has been put on these two neighbourhoods is next to criminal. We are hard working tax payers that bought in a nice neighbourhood and we are trying our hardest to keep it a safe nice place to live. We shouldn’t be getting sick and fighting two levels of Gov’t to protect our homes.
Our property values have plummeted. There are 20 condo’s for sale in the strata next to us with more wondering what to do. Its the same with our strata. We have only one up for sale, but the rest of us talk about it constantly. We have had realtors get up and talk at the rezoning application saying that buyers won’t even look in our neighbourhood, so why put it up for sale. Unless we wanted to give it away there is no sense listing as we can’t afford the 20% decrease in value that has already happened and then buy somewhere else. I’m sure none of you would be to happy if your property value went down 20%.
If the City and Province will not stop the building of these two wet houses I’m requesting a buy out for people in these two neighbourhoods at the value their homes should be, and in addition their real estate fees, legal fees and moving/storage expenses. We have tried everything to save this neighbourhood. We have over 2000 signatures on three petitions, we have gone before City council, we have written letters and phoned politicians……mostly with no reply! Its like we don’t exist. My husband and I did our research before buying here. I have no desire to live next to a wet house as do most of my neighbours. If you want to ruin this neighbourhood you need to compensate the people that you are going to affect.!!!
We have offered different alternatives for locations where it won’t affect our high density residential neighbourhood…….to no avail. My understanding is that the money is for risk of homelessness as well as homelessness, which would include seniors. That would be a perfect match for this neighbourhood as we have a very high concentration of seniors here already. I’m really not sure why we pay City Planners as there hasn’t been much thought, if any, put into either of these two projects and how they would affect people already living here. The proposed two wet houses are on either side of Nanaimo’s largest elementary school and within walking distance of the Wesley St project. Planning????????……that is destroying a neighbourhood and concentrating problems in a small area of Nanaimo. I want to know why this area is being targeted and why the City is trying to ghettoize us.
There are approximately 50 homeless right now that would fit the wet house criteria. The Wesley St project will house 40 and there are empty beds in other facilities that would look after the rest, so the hardest to house will be housed if they so desire. Why couldn’t we house people that would fit into the two neighbourhoods such as seniors????? How many seniors are left at the hospital because families can’t look after them and they have no place to go. They too are taking up expensive hospital beds. Would it not make financial sense to house these people……and work with our neighbourhood.
Also nothing should be built without adequate parking. The Hospital area has had parking problems for years. Adequate parking is an absolute necessity, none of this 1 parking spot per 10 units of housing stupidity. If nothing else parking stalls could be rented out. We are literally drowning in a sea of cars everyday. The proposed Dufferin site is going to remove 10 street parking spots that are used every single day. How can any planner think that they do not have to supply parking in this area???? Again who is doing the planning here!!!
We are desperate in this neighbourhood. HANA (Hospital Area Neighbourhood Assoc) is more than willing to sit down with the City and come up with alternatives that could work for everyone. We are ready to come to the table…..are you????? What happened to Families First?
Regards
Denise
The proposed construction of these two facilities, pick your favorite euphemism, has now become a matter of leadership. I can’t believe the Mayor of a city like Nanaimo could continue to be as callous and unyielding as to continue further discussion on either facility. People in the Quarterway and Hospital neighborhoods are suffering; devaluation of probably their single largest asset and fear of the unknown future residents about to be thrust upon them. I have heard from several people who want to speak out at these public hearings, but are afraid. I guess there are several people who would like to speak out, but their employers have threatened them if they do. The Mayor has the authority to stop this process and reevaluate what changes are needed to the “Plan”.
Being a leader in business, academics, military or government assumes you have the ability to recognize change/failure, and then be able to deal with it. History is littered with the corpses of leaders who couldn’t identify change or who couldn’t make changes themselves. Our Mayor is heading down that path. The City and Province can not “cram” these facilities down the throat of so many law abiding citizens, it just can’t happen.
Mr. Mayor, take the “high road”. Stop and regroup your resources in order to propose a plan that can be implemented without causing the damage you are doing now. This Plan needs to have the input and buy-in of any potential “stakeholders”; the residents of a neighborhood or business owners. The homeless people proposed for both facilities need a significant amount of supervision and counseling. You can’t build structures for them; you have to build “structure” for them. If they were functional in any way, they would have already received assistance from BC housing and be living in a rental unit now. That alone should be the one necessary signal that building new condos for them is a blueprint for failure.
Leaders recognize when change is needed. Mr. Mayor you knew it was time for your predecessor to be replaced, please don’t follow in his footsteps.
Hello Lance, I have met you previously and listened to your presentation at one of the recent public hearings. I am most impressed with how well you spoke, your passion for investing in Nanaimo and would strongly encourage you to run for city council at the next election. You will most certainly have my support.
Sincerely,
Sandy Clark
Pass the hat, and get legal advice about taking the city to court. Try and find some high profile type legal beagle who will see the publicity value in the case, and keep the fees down.
Of course, council might surprise you and call the whole thing off, as they have the power to do.
Don’t forget, this goes back to council after the hearings for their final decision. Even if they do approve the rezoning, under the MOU the operator of the site still has to seek public approval before proceeding.
So, city council may be only the first level of dictators you will have to deal with, then you can engage the provincial ones.
I need to clarify something that is wrong and is being repeated wrongly as well and bothers me to keep hearing it when I keep correcting it.
The meeting that was held at the Quarterway School on February 17th, 2011 WAS NOT A PUBLIC MEETING!! IT WAS A PARENT INFORMATION EVENING FOR THE PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, OR GAURDIANS OF CHILDREN THAT ATTEND THE SCHOOL.
As I was one that was involved in the preparation etc of this meeting, it was not advertised nor set up by the city. It was set up to inform the parents of children enrolled at the school and we sent out invites to the city council members, which they were so kind to attend. It was their choice to show or not to show. It was not officially open to the general public as we felt the seats should go to the parents first as we had to keep in mind the fire restrictions etc. We were expecting ALOT more than what had attended so, yes others were allowed in.
SO THIS WAS NOT A PUBLIC MEETING, NOT WAS IT SET UP BY THE CITY STAFF!!
JoAnn Lawson
With respect to the property at 1402-1590 Bowen Road, in the vicinity of the Quarterway Pub/Liquor Store/Athletic Club, it is interesting to note what BC Housing’s thoughts are about this site … in particular, it refers to serving tenants, who are “more independent” in about 30 units.
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“The second city-owned property, at 1402-1590 Bowen Road, could accommodate commercial or services uses on the ground level and apartment-style housing above. This site provides multiple transportation options and could serve more independent tenants in about 30 units.”
Link to a page from the BC Housing website:
http://www.bchousing.org/breakingthecycle/local_government_partnerships/Nanaimo
One thing I find particularly troubling about this whole exercise, is the seeming lack of compassion and caring that is being extended to the residents who clearly are loosing sleep, and some their health as they take on the monolith at city hall, aided I might add by the NDN.
It seems the concern for up to 80 in need of help, is completely trumping the real issues of the thousands of stakeholders already living in the area.
Jim: You make a valid point. Whose interests have been well served in this exercise, to date? The interests of the yet-to be selected tenants of these yet-to-be constructed housing projects? The interests of the homeowners, who currently reside in the subject neighbourhoods?
On April 14th, I attended the first Public Hearing for the rezoning of property, which was described as 1406 Bowen Road, in order to permit the use of land for “a supportive housing development”.
What necessitated placing the Bowen Road rezoning matter in last position on the Agenda with TEN other matters being heard before it? I left shortly after 10 p.m. (had been standing), and the Bowen Road rezoning matter had just begun to be heard.
It certainly appeared to me that consideration was greatly lacking that evening, in regards to those in attendance, which included many children … it was standing room only.
The civic address in the Notice of Public Hearing is referred to as 1406 Bowen Road, whereas the information provided in the BC Housing document that I previously provided in the post above, refers to properties located at 1402 – 1590 Bowen Road, which BC Housing advises could serve “more independent tenants in about 30 units”.
Did the properties at 1406 Bowen and the other addresses, have to be expropriated by the City? The widening of Bowen Road in that area and construction of a new five-lane bridge, should enable the vehicles to travel at an even higher rate of speed on Bowen than they do now. Wonder what the taxpayers paid to acquire the land that was needed?
As per the BC Housing initiative of Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness, BC Housing state “that as many as ¾ of the people who are homeless suffer from mental illness and addiction. The Premier’s Task Force on Homelessness, mental illness and addiction recognised this and funding was put in place to build housing with support services. Providing a home is only a temporary solution if the support services are not there to help people address the causes of homelessness. By providing housing with a range of support services, we are helping those most in need leave the streets and move into stable housing.” Enabling drug activity in a Wet house without support services and the requirement to abstain from drug use will not benefit the residents who wish to re-establish a stable life for themselves.
Many residents of Nanaimo have stated that they are supportive of smaller density DRY house facilities spread throughout the city whereby professional help will be provided onsite to help the residents overcome their addictions and provide support for those who wish to rehabilitate themselves. Professional evidence shows and has been presented that high density housing does not work.
With the proposed location opposite Quarterway Elementary School and within close proximity to many other child care facilities and Bowen Park, our young impressionable children will experience first hand active drug use. This is not something we need to encourage for the future leaders and residents of our city.
It has been stated that the homeless with drug, alcohol and mental health issues tend to stick together and prefer to maintain a low profile residing in parks along the downtown portion of the Millstone River. What if the proposed residents choose NOT to stay at the proposed facility provided to keep them safe, dry and warm and revert back to their preferred location. Why not build a facility in a location that they are familiar with or perhaps consider a location that is away from schools, community parks, seniors residences and residential neighbourhoods? There are numerous vacant buildings, commercial and industrial properties that would accommodate a Wet House or preferably a small scale Dry House with 24/7 onsite support and rehabilitation. CMHC and BC Housing both offer funding to convert non-residential buildings into low income housing for the at-risk or homeless residents of our city. Perhaps city council should explore the vacant buildings throughout the city before spending millions of dollars on a new facility that may or may not be utilised by the homeless.
Many of the councillors and the Mayor have directed the question to the citizens of Nanaimo in previous council meetings, “where do you propose we build these facilities”. I partook in a meeting with HANA executives, the Mayor, some council members and the city planner late in 2010. At that time I provided a substantial list of alternative locations that are already zoned to accommodate social housing developments. I am happy to assist the social planners and the city executives to review these alternatives again.
In regards to property values for those homes situated within close proximity to the wet houses, two realtors spoke about the decline in property values at the public hearings. I too am a realtor, and I agree 100% that property values have declined in the area. As realtors, it is our ethical and moral duty to provide as much information as we can to our clients in regards to properties they are considering purchasing and information on the neighbourhood. When showing properties situated close to the proposed wet houses, we must disclose that these particular projects may be proceeding. Most clients choose to redirect their search to other neighbourhoods.
In regards to the City’s request to rezone the property at 1406 Bowen to C31 Corridor zoning, the definition under C31 currently provides for mixed use commercial and multi-family development. Permitted uses under the C31 zoning bylaw include: day care facility, dry cleaners, financial institutions, laundromats, multiple family dwellings, offices, restaurant and retail stores. The C31 bylaw does not provide for residential shelter, personal care facility, social service centre, social services resource centre or public housing for the homeless with resources or support services onsite.
The C31 zoning bylaw also permits minimum set backs of 3 meters (9.84 feet) from any side and a minimum of 2 storeys to a maximum of 6 storeys. Depending on the design, the proposed Wet house may create an issue of shadowing of the residences on White Street. According to the City of Nanaimo’s rezoning application checklist, a shadow study must be completed prior to approving a rezoning application. This means a study must be undertaken during equinox at intervals of 9:00am, 12:00pm and 3:00pm. I believe this is done to ensure the proposed development does not shadow the neighbouring properties or impede on the privacy and enjoyment of the surrounding residents.
Should the rezoning be passed and the proposed facility be built, based on the definition of the C31 zoning bylaw the building will be non-conforming.
The proposed new zoning bylaw due to be in effect later this year shows 1406 Bowen Road as zoned COR1 Residential Corridor. This zone provides for residential, street oriented, medium density, and office development along or near major roads. Permitted uses as defined under COR1 will be: artists studio, assembly hall, bed and breakfast, boarding and lodging, church, daycare, hotels, live/work space, multiple dwelling, office, personal care facility, seniors housing and single residential dwelling. Again the future proposed zoning bylaw does not conform to accommodate public housing for the homeless with social services onsite.
It is highly recommended that the city review the proposed location for low barrier housing and consider trading the property at 1406 Bowen Road for a more suitable property to accommodate the homeless residents with onsite support. For those that do want to change their life and become free of drug and alcohol addiction, we should offer small scale independent living facilities with professional support services in a suburban neighbourhood. I think you would find the residents of Nanaimo would be most supportive of this. We are all compassionate and willing to help those in need. It is human nature! These are the lessons we want to teach the children of Nanaimo! Consideration should be given to alternative resolutions for the city‘s homeless, and to include all residents of Nanaimo in the decision process for creating a win-win situation for our all residents.