Supporters of the project gather at the future site, at the corner of 100th Street and 107A Avenue, in Edmonton.
The Boyle Street Community Center hopes to have found a new ally to help it convince a City of Edmonton commission to authorize its plan for a new health and overdose prevention centre.
This ally, the Chinatown and Vicinity Business Improvement Area, has expressed a change of heart by letting it be known that it is now ready to accept the project.
However, several organizations are appealing the development permit granted in March to Boyle Street.
The organization wants to build the King Thunderbird Center at the corner of the 100th Street and 107th A Avenue, replacing the existing center located at the corner of 101st Street and 105th Avenue.
The Appeal Board in matters of subdivision and development of the City heard the two parties during a hearing on Wednesday.
For his part, Steve Hammerschmidt, Director of Economic Recovery at the Chinatown Business Improvement Area, explained the shift in opinion: Now that we've looked at Boyle Street's position on this facility, we think it will fit right in with the community.
According to him, the people of Chinatown had shown compassion, but that the high concentration of social agencies created permanent difficulties.
Jordan Reiniger, general manager of Boyle Street , said the organization had agreed to certain terms after hearing the concerns expressed.
The King Thunderbird Center, okimaw peyesew kamik in the Cree language, is not a drop-in center where you pick up food, use the facilities and then leave. Users can only access bathrooms and feed themselves if they are at the center for health-related services.
For example, if a person comes to get counseling or treatment for shigellosis, she may also receive meals and shower.
At Wednesday's hearing, a few people asked the board to administration to cancel the planning permit.
Michelle Patterson Nipp, whose son is in Grade 3 at École Victoria, was among parents and students who expressed concern about worsening social disorder issues in the neighborhood.
We implore you to consider the safety of children, which will be greatly affected by this project, she explained.
Amy Hlus, a former student at École Victoria, testified that she was harassed and threatened by people in the neighborhood. She is worried about her 14-year-old sister who is still in school.
Jordan Reiniger, the general manager of Boyle Street, acknowledges that residents of the neighborhood have completely legitimate concerns. […]
Several groups expressed their opposition to the project, including the McCauley Residents Coalition, the Central McDougall Community League and the Viva Italia Business Association, but they did not not presented at the hearing.
This is the second appeal of a planning permit, after council quashed the first proposed by the community agency in November 2022.
City development officers then approved a Class A permit for Boyle Street in March, after the agency changed the use of a recreation service to financial, administrative and health services.
With information from Natasha Riebe< /p>
