The votes were unanimous — but the mood in the room was not.

Surrey council approved two separate permanent modular housing projects on Monday night, after three hours of often contentious public comments about the proposals.

The two projects were:

A six-storey, 63-unit building at 14706 104 Ave. in the Guildford area, located close to an existing shelter.

A three-storey, 38-unit building at 13425 King George Blvd., two kilometres north of the Surrey Central SkyTrain station.

They're part of the B.C. government's commitment to the city to build 250 supportive modular homes, following the dismantling of the 'Surrey Strip' tent city last year.

"I'm concerned if we don't do something, we're going to see more people on the streets. I implore you to do the right thing. Please vote yes for these housing projects," said Shayne Williams, the CEO of Lookout Housing and Health Society, a non-profit organization that will oversee the Guildford project.

"These are the services that need to come to this community and are long overdue."

Divided community

But not everyone agreed — with the majority of residents speaking against the Guildford apartment, which will be near an existing shelter.

"We're not speaking against this place, if you have people that come in there that aren't drug addicts. When you start putting drug addicts in an area ... these people come into your area and they terrorize it," said Arnie Evans, who said he had lived in the area for 60 years and had seen a surge in crime since the shelter came in.

"When you're a drug addict, you're a drug addict. It's not the responsibility of us, as neighbours, as taxpayers in the neighbourhood, to try and cure these people."

Former B.C. Liberal MLA Dave Hayer also spoke against the project, saying that the current shelter had negatively impacted the nearby Superstore and caused ICBC to increase insurance rates for nearby residents because of increased risk.

"Do we need shelter for homeless people? Yes," he said.

"You should look at the big picture ... we need to work together to find solutions but at the right location."

"Help the people who are polite, people who need help, who aren't addicts," says this man in Surrey, opposing proposed modular housing in Guildford.<br><br>"I've got no use for people who are in substance abuse, and abuse us as neighbours. It's not our job as taxpayers to help them." <a href="https://t.co/aGT4cjP130">pic.twitter.com/aGT4cjP130</a> —@j_mcelroy

Despite that, council decided to unanimously approve both projects with little internal debate.

"I used to have that same fear, but then I did what people suggested: I went down and I helped out," said Coun. Steven Pettigrew, who said he lives within two blocks of the Guildford project.

"I talk to homeless people on the street and they're not scary. They're just people that are just happy to be in a different state ... this is our job as a council, to be able to look after these people and take care of them.

"Some people suggested that we need a different location. Where?"