An emergency shelter can continue to operate in the former Army & Navy Department store for another three years.
In a 5-2 vote, city council recently supported the issuance of a new temporary use permit (TUP) for an emergency shelter use – either nightly or 24/7 – on the lower floor of the building at 502 Columbia St. A temporary use permit is required because an emergency shelter use isn’t permitted in the property’s zoning.
Coun. Nadine Nakagawa said homelessness is rising in New Westminster, as it is in communities across B.C. and North America. She said COVID, inflation and mental health issues have contributed to the increase in homelessness, including among seniors.
“It is not good for our community,” she said. “And I absolutely agree – I’m a fierce supporter of affordable housing, of supportive housing, and that's why I vote for it every chance I get and advocate for it to the province every chance I get. I wish we didn't need shelters, but we do, because I don't want people dying on the street.”
Mayor Patrick Johnstone and councillors Ruby Campbell, Tasha Henderson, Jaimie McEvoy and Nakagawa supported the three-year TUP application. They voted against Coun. Daniel Fontaine’s motion to approve a one-year TUP.
Fontaine and Coun. Paul Minhas voted against the permit, which allows a shelter to operate in the building for three years.
Fontaine argued that by approving a shelter for one year in this location, the City of New Westminster could pressure the province to “get moving” on building supportive housing, including a project that’s been approved on Sixth Street.
“It's unacceptable that it's taking, what four or five years to build 50 units?” he said.
Fontaine said the community wants to see the Army & Navy building redeveloped to include cafes, coffee shops and small businesses.
“I think if you asked the vast majority of New Westminster residents, they wouldn't say that their vision for the Army and Navy building is a 24/7 shelter,” he said. “Their vision would be that there's enough housing in the region to make sure that people who are homeless in our region have housing.”
(Jackie Teed, the city’s director of planning and development, told the Record the city has not had an application or inquiry for redevelopment of this site and said approval of the TUP would not preclude the city from considering such an application. If the city were to receive an application for this site, she said it would be evaluated against the design guidelines for the area, which speak specifically to active uses at the street level, such as retail commercial.)
Housing delays
In late 2021, city council approved a three-year TUP that would allow a 50-bed emergency shelter to locate in the former Army & Navy department store building for three years. At that time, a staff report stated BC Housing would fund the emergency shelter until a 52-unit modular supportive housing development at 60 to 68 Sixth St. was in place. (The Record has contacted BC Housing about the status of that project, which has not yet been built.)
Henderson said efforts are underway to provide a 24/7 model at the Army & Navy site, which means people would have a place to stay during the day, rather than being sent out onto the streets from 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
“It's my understanding that limiting this to a year would prevent us from seeking that stability that's required in order to shift this to a 24/7 model, which I think is more beneficial for the community and for the residents who stay at that shelter,” she said.
A staff report said BC Housing had been trying to establish a temporary 24/7 emergency shelter with support services at the Columbia Street location but didn’t proceed because the building lease was set to conclude in November 2024. The Purpose Society recently negotiated a lease extension for the building that goes until November 2023.
John Stark, the city’s manager of community planning, said the Purpose Society operates a secondary school, a youth hub and community-based programs in the building, so the lease extension was not solely for the purpose of the nightly shelter.
Johnstone said the Army & Navy site is anticipated to be used, in part, for a 24/7 shelter as soon as that funding is available from BC Housing.
“Nothing about this approval of 24/7 shelter prevents us or slows down our work to advocate for long-term solutions,” he said. “We all know that a 24/7 shelter here is a temporary solution.”
Johnstone said the City of New Westminster is “on a path for a standalone, supportive shelter outside” at a location that is on the periphery of the downtown core. He said a commitment from the city to allow a shelter to operate at the Army & Navy location for more than a year is required in order to get a funding commitment from BC Housing.
“Not issuing this permit, not allowing 24/7 support in this site until that is built, is not going to help anyone in the community,” he said. “It is not going to help the people who need the shelter. It is not going to help the businesses and the people downtown who are feeling a lot of the impacts of homelessness, of the external impacts.”
Johnstone said staff are proposing the creation of a community advisory committee for the shelter at 502 Columbia St., which is a model that was followed when the city approved a supportive housing project in Queensborough. He said that is an approach that downtown residents and businesses have been calling for.
Good Neighbour Agreement
As part of the shelter at 502 Columbia St., BC Housing is working on a response plan and the city is helping to establish a community advisory committee.
“We have had ongoing discussions with BC Housing around a response plan,” Stark said. “That will look at everything with regards to cleanliness, building maintenance, safety and security – not just with regards to the emergency shelter, but in the vicinity of the emergency shelter.”
Stark said a community advisory committee could look at aspects similar to a Good Neighbour Agreement in working with that neighbourhood.
“It will have representation from businesses, residents, from the non-profit itself, from BC Housing and city staff from different departments,” he said. “So, the idea is, if issues arise, there is a venue which they can be discussed and hopefully resolved.”
While council was divided on the issue of whether to issue a three- or one-year TUP, it unanimously supported Fontaine’s motion to require the operator sign a Good Neighbour Agreement with the city, and to have that done within 90 days of the issuance of the TUP.
Councillors Fontaine and Minhas supported the amendment requiring a Good Neighbour Agreement, but did not support the main motion to approve the temporary use permit.
