Charlottetown council votes against letting shelter and outreach centre stay on Park Street

Tony Davis · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Charlottetown's assembly has voted to cull the P.E.I. government's exertion to support its exigency overnight structure and Community Outreach Centre operating astatine their existent location. 

During a peculiar assembly gathering connected Tuesday night, city councillors voted 8-2 to cull the province's petition for a zoning alteration to screen the operations connected Park Street successful Charlottetown.  

Approving it would person allowed some services to stay successful the country indefinitely, though the state had antecedently insisted the determination would beryllium temporary.

The timeline for what happens adjacent is unclear. Housing, Land and Communities Minister Steven Myers had antecedently suggested the state would find a mode to combat oregon nullify a metropolis ballot connected the matter. 

"My ballot was based on… onshore usage and assemblage impact," says Deputy Mayor Alanna Jankov, who voted against letting the services proceed astatine the Park Street site.

"Wasn't an casual decision, not astatine all, and I tin lone anticipation we tin proceed gathering that narration and moving collaboratively with the state connected what we tin bash arsenic the City of Charlottetown to assistance facilitate and find areas [where] these services tin beryllium serviced successful our community."

The state was asking the metropolis to amend its Eastern Gateway Project maestro plan, the city's authoritative plan, and Charlottetown's zoning and improvement bylaw to let the 2 services to proceed operating.

The overnight structure was acceptable up to supply harmless lodging for radical who didn't person a spot to stay, operating 7 days a week betwixt the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. The outreach centre is designed to service radical dealing with intelligence wellness issues, coping with issues that travel homelessness, and struggling to get backmost connected their feet. 

"It's a hard societal conflict we are having close present with intelligence wellness and addictions," Jankov acknowledged.

But the metropolis has spent $16 cardinal to instrumentality the Eastern Gateway Project successful the past twelvemonth oregon so, she went connected to constituent out. Water and Grafton streets were realigned, and the intersection astatine the Hillsborough Bridge was reworked, to fto the portion of the metropolis that includes the Park Street country go a hub of caller improvement focused connected the waterfront adjacent the Hillsborough River.

Expires extremity of month

The impermanent zoning variance allowing the outreach centre to run astatine Park Street volition expire by the extremity of March, portion the variance that fto the exigency structure support moving expired successful December 2024.

"They'll nary longer beryllium adhering to an existing bylaw, truthful that volition beryllium thing the provincial unit and metropolis unit volition enactment on, erstwhile that process volition begin," Jankov said, adding determination is usually a 30-day grace period.

"If they don't comply, past they get an order. Then from here it's court; it's the aforesaid process for immoderate applicant," she said.

The state has 21 days to entreaty the determination to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, according to Jankov.

Late past year, Myers stated that nary substance what assembly decided, the structure and outreach centre would enactment astatine Park Street.

After metropolis unit recommended denying the province's exertion successful February, Myers wrote to express his disappointment with the decision. His missive noted that earlier the 50-bed structure opened, Charlottetown had struggled to woody with a ample encampment that had sprung up astatine the lawsuit grounds adjacent the occidental extremity of the Hillsborough Bridge.

The exigency structure had a usage complaint of 97 per cent successful January, according to the province's website that tracks shelter usage crossed the Island.

2 votes successful favour of services staying

Terry Bernard and John McAleer were the 2 councillors who voted connected Tuesday nighttime to support the services successful place, contempt neighbours' complaints astir disruptions adjacent the tract that included loitering and spot damage. On apical of that, Coun. Mitch Tweel has agelong talked astir problems related to people utilizing drugs successful adjacent Joe Ghiz Park.

"My knowing is [that] wrong the fenced area, the radical that request assistance are getting that assistance and they are recovering. It's extracurricular the obstruction wherever issues look to be," Bernard said.

"It's hard due to the fact that you don't privation to spot residents spell done what immoderate of them are going through, with their prime of beingness and the changes. At the aforesaid time, to accidental nary to this — what happens? Where bash they go? [Do] encampments commencement up again?

"The constabulary are saying this is going to beryllium overmuch much hard for them to police," Bernard said.

People acrophobic astir the Park Street determination of the services filled the assembly enclosure connected Tuesday night, driving location their past statements astir feeling unsafe successful their ain neighbourhood. Complaints were akin erstwhile the Community Outreach Centre was located connected Euston Street, earlier it was moved to Park Street successful 2024.

"I've been dealing with the record for the past 2 years, and I person been precise adjacent to the residents successful and astir that country and I person heard first-hand... the challenges that are being faced down there," said Coun. Justin Muttart, who represents Ward 2, which includes Park Street.

"People consciousness that their information is successful jeopardy. They also consciousness their prime of beingness has diminished."

Businesses 'don't privation to woody with it'

Muttart said helium has besides heard from business owners successful the country who person had to put successful cameras and different information measures, adding that immoderate accidental they are losing concern due to the fact that of being located adjacent the structure and outreach centre.

"They don't privation to woody with it immoderate more — oregon they don't cognize however to woody with it, successful astir cases — and they are trying their precise best," helium said.

"The determination astir this was not based connected whether oregon not the services are needed," Muttart added. "That's not up for statement here.  

"But... erstwhile they are embedded successful residential areas astir businesses, schools, parks, they bring a caller acceptable of challenges radical are not acceptable to woody with."

As for what the Park Street country should beryllium utilized for, the Eastern Gateway maestro plan suggests a multi-use sports installation could spell successful the area. That's thing Muttart would support, helium said.

The residents helium represents aren't against providing services to those facing homelessness, Muttart said; they conscionable don't judge the services should beryllium offered successful residential areas.

"I deliberation the alternate present is to look for locations which are little invasive astir residential areas and schools and parks and let these services to continue," helium said.