East Guelph residents push back against proposed harm reduction housing site – GuelphMercury.com

Earlier this year, the mayors task force on homelessness released a report identifying costs to construct a 15-unit building for permanent supportive housing. Construction costs were estimated at $4.5 million, or $300,000 per unit.

The proposed modular homes on the other hand, are much more affordable. One tiny homes builder in Puslinch priced a fully-furnished 160 sq/ft home at around $26,000 per unit. At this price, the units would be affordable to someone receiving the monthly housing allowance provided by Ontario Works ($390 for one person).

The property staff were asked to investigate as a potential site for the harm reduction housing project.

Bryan McPherson, a homeowner near Beaumont, said he likes the concept of using tiny homes to address homelessness, but just not at this site. In other cities, like Vancouver or in Europe, these projects work well, but the approach is so different, he said.

They integrate containers into mixed-income neighbourhoods with amenities, so it provides them with more of a chance for social cohesion and rehabilitation.

The site on Beaumont has no access to medical services, he said. Theres no community kitchen for skills upgrading. There are no grocery stores nearby, or sidewalks for pedestrians. The bus comes every 30 minutes, and there are children in the area that actively use the green space as a park.

He said the focus of this housing project should be integration, not segregation, noting the neighbourhood around Beaumont is already made up of people living in rent-geared-to-income (at 780 York Road) and affordable housing (Habitat for Humanitys Cityview Village).

So youre putting people on the fringe with people on the fringe.

When asked about a better suited site, he suggested the recently completed Market Parkade.

We paid $22 million for a parking garage that is empty If they really want to address this situation now, thats how you do it.

Other nearby residents voiced opposition to the proposal, highlighting concerns of theft and a potential decrease in property values if the project were to go ahead at this site.

This is a peek inside a modular home built at a property in Puslinch. The harm reduction housing team toured the site earlier this fall. | Chris Seto/Torstar

Mayor Cam Guthrie said he plans on proposing some tweaks to the motion that identifies Beaumont as a site to be looked at when the issue comes to council on Monday. Most notably, this would include removing the specificity of naming Beaumont and expand the search to other city-owned properties.

I think my amendments are really needed to be able to broaden the discussion on sites across the city, but also to make sure that the right wraparound social services would be available for wherever this may be, he said.

While this change would only explore city-owned properties, Guthrie said it would also send up the signal to private partners who may want to take part in the project.

The other major change is around timing. The committee resolution requested staff report back by January. Guthries new motion would extend that to the early spring.

Despite the delay, Guthrie said this would be enough time to have the project up and running in time for next winter.

Adrienne Crowder, manager of the Guelph Wellington Drug Strategy, leads the harm reduction housing team. She said the mayors suggestion to seek out other viable properties was welcome the more options for potential sites, the better.

The site at 106 Beaumont was identified because it was the only empty parcel of land found in a recent city report on municipal assets. She said it was regrettable that neighbours had to learn about the city's potential investigation through media reports.

Balancing the needs of communities while finding ways to bring forward new social housing initiatives is part of a national conversation, she said.

The intact community around Beaumont Crescent has needs that would need to be incorporated into how something would move forward.

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She said the project team is exploring all options to find a site for this project. Its even open to considering other models of harm reduction housing and not using retrofitted shipping containers.

The biggest challenge in Guelph is theres no available housing stock, she said. By turning shipping containers into modular homes, new housing stock is created quickly and at a relatively low cost.

Looking at lines on the municipal budget, the $600,000 requested to build 10 units is relatively small compared to other items, she said. By housing the citys most vulnerable, this may also have an impact on improving community safety.

If community safety is a big concern for our community, this is a way that tries to get to some of the root causes of what is creating the lack of safety.

The issue will be discussed at the city council meeting on Monday Nov. 25 and anyone is welcome to attend.

To register as a delegate for this meeting, contact the city clerks office no later that 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22 by going online to guelph.ca/delegate, calling the clerks office at 519-837-5603, TTY at 519-826-9771, or sending an email to clerks@guelph.ca.

with files from Graeme McNaughton

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East Guelph residents push back against proposed harm reduction housing site - GuelphMercury.com