Fierce debate has swirled in Vanier and beyond ever since the Salvation Army announced plans in late June to build a new multi-purpose facility — which opponents call a “mega-shelter” — on Montreal Road.



The plan calls for a 9,600-square-metre hub that includes an emergency shelter, day programs, medical care, addiction services and administrative space. It would replace the Concorde Motel beside the current Salvation Army thrift store. A house on Ste. Anne Avenue would be demolished to provide a secondary access to the property.



In its 10-Year Housing and Homelessness plan, the city set ambitious goals — eliminate chronic homelessness and reduce emergency shelter stays to fewer than 30 days by 2024.



It also embraced the housing-first model, which is premised on the notion of ensuring everyone has a safe, stable place to call home and providing additional supports as needed to help people stay off the street.

The Homeless Hub, a web-based research library comprised of information from across Canada, says ending homelessness means doing things differently and not simply managing the problem with emergency services, such as shelters and soup kitchens. When people come to depend on those services without access to permanent housing and supports, it leads to declining health, well-being and uncertainty, the website says.



But Ottawa is not there yet, according to Salvation Army spokesman Glenn van Gulik, which is why he believes what the charity proposes is so necessary.



“With limited affordable housing in the city, Housing First can sometimes be very difficult,” he said.



“What do you do in the interim? There’s got to be a solution that continues to help people get through these challenges that doesn’t require you to say to them, ‘I’m sorry, we don’t have affordable housing.'”



As the city’s hottest planning file continues to simmer, the Citizen stirred the pot to answer some key questions.



How is the site currently zoned and what amendments is the Salvation Army seeking?



Montreal Road is designated in the city’s Official Plan as a traditional mainstreet. The vision for mainstreets is a vibrant collection of shops, restaurants and services that prioritize pedestrian comfort, cycling and access to transit. Think Bank Street in the Glebe or West Wellington. Montreal Road between North River Road and St. Laurent Boulevard is poised for renewal and redesign in 2019, and many hope that project will kickstart the neighbourhood’s renaissance.



The 1.8-acre site in question — a large interior lot with additional frontage on St. Anne Avenue and Montfort Street — is zoned traditional mainstreet and residential.



Shelters aren’t allowed on traditional mainstreets, but the Salvation Army’s argument is that the shelter use is only one component of its larger, multi-purpose facility, and thus a site-specific exemption should be permitted. The entire site would also be rezoned traditional mainstreet.



Where do Salvation Army clients come from?



Initial reports — including quotes attributed to Mayor Jim Watson — stated 70 per cent of the Salvation Army’s clients come from the Vanier area.



But taken at face value, the figure is misleading.



In fact, 52 per cent of clients who access the Salvation Army’s community and family services department — one of the many programs the charity would offer in its new centre — are from the K1K, K1L and K1N postal codes, according to the addresses provided.



Only K1L is Vanier, but it also includes the McKay Lake area north of Beechwood Avenue. The other postal codes represent a wide swath of neighbourhoods, from Lowertown and ByWard Market to Overbrook and Manor Park.



Homeless clients who can’t provide an address make up an additional 15 to 20 per cent, and come from within a 30-minute walk from the downtown core, van Gulik explained.



The two figures combined exceed 70 per cent, but the catchment area is wider than “Vanier area” might reasonably suggest.



The rest of the Salvation Army’s clients come from other parts of the city.



Why are people opposed to the Salvation Army’s proposal?



Aside from what many see as a lack of meaningful consultation, among the most common concerns expressed is the fear that crime and drug use associated with the George Street shelter will be imported to Vanier at a time when the community is trying to improve its image and reinvent Montreal Road as an attractive, thriving mainstreet.



Drew Dobson, who owns a pub a few doors down from the Montreal Road site, is afraid new businesses won’t be drawn to the area if there’s uncertainty over what’s going to happen when the shelter opens in several years, while established businesses that can afford to will move out, creating more vacant storefronts.



“We want to grow business along Montreal Road and we want to grow the type of businesses that are consistent with traditional mainstreets,” he said.



The site’s unusual shape also means the future centre would be surrounded by homes on three sides.



Then there’s the issue of size — some think it’s just too big. “If you put 40, 50 people in an alcohol or drug-treatment program and you integrate in the community, you have a much greater chance of success than you do when you build one of these mega-shelters,” Dobson said.



Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury advocates for providing services at smaller sites, which is something Shepherds of Good Hope, Maison Fraternité and the John Howard Society all do already. Such sites are easier to manage and integrate clients into the community, and often have a local point of contact in the event of an issue.



A one-stop shop, even if it’s in a handsome new building, will replicate the Salvation Army’s current model, which hasn’t worked, he said.



Concerns about drugs, booze and loitering outside of the George Street shelter have dogged the facility.



Violence, too: Last fall, 30-year-old Kayla Sullivan was stabbed outside the building and later died. An Ottawa man charged with first-degree murder pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter in May.



Other complaints include intravenous drug use, fights and people peeing on cars in the parking lot west of the shelter.



When will the Salvation Army hold public consultations regarding this proposal?



Likely in September, said van Gulik. Details will hopefully be finalized next week.



But several community meetings have already been hosted by Fleury, the Vanier Community Association and the Quartier Vanier Business Improvement Association.



Meanwhile, the city is collecting feedback on the application until the fall, when the item will likely be considered by the planning committee.



“We want residents to come out to the consultation and we want those consultations to be meaningful, so for them to be meaningful and transparent, it’s important that city staff be able to report on that in their report submission (to the planning committee),” Fleury said.



Why didn’t the Salvation Army consult the community sooner?



This is a sticking point.



Van Gulik says the Salvation Army had been discussing its plan with Fleury and city officials for more than two years, but was never directly asked — and didn’t take the initiative — to hold a public meeting. “If there had been a request to engage the BIA, the VCA or the public, we certainly would have done that, but we really felt truly and honestly that we were doing good engagement by speaking with the councillor, who represents those people,” van Gulik said.



But residents and neighbours, according to Dobson, leader of the SOS Vanier group, feel duped. There may still have been resistance, but people wouldn’t be left with the feeling that it’s a fait accompli.



“One big, big mistake, and maybe it wouldn’t have mattered, but the community was blindsided,” he said. “And that’s caused more of a backlash than might have happened if they’d known it was coming.”



mpearson@postmedia.com



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