333 Montreal Rd [Salvation Army] | 10+13m | 3+4f | Approved

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by acottawa

The thing is both the city and Salvation Army know every neighbourhood would react exactly the same way, and Vanier would react the same way even if there were concessions, so there is little incentive to change anything.

That's true.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by R_chapma

Here are all the reasons the economic impact study done by Shore-Tanner and Associates, is a giant load of expensive BS

https://urbanomicsblog.wordpress.com/201...ial-services-complex-in-vanier/#more-513

Written by a Dan Stankovic

In the past economic feasibility studies were accepted and debated etc at OMB hearings. These days they don't seem to be accepted documents.

Those reports can often take one theory or hypothesis and then go tangentially off in one direction (usually that preferred by the client paying for the report) and justify a proposed building mix, density etc with very little backup.

[FutureWickedCity]

People should keep in mind that if the Sal moves to Vanier, it doesn't mean that every substance user and panhandler will move to Vanier with it. Don't forget that the Mission, The Shepherd's, The Sandy Hill Health Centre, and 99 Rideau will still be downtown!

[Vanier]

Originally Posted by acottawa

The thing is both the city and Salvation Army know every neighbourhood would react exactly the same way, and Vanier would react the same way even if there were concessions, so there is little incentive to change anything.

Maybe the SA and the city should rethink their paradigm? Instead of doubling down on a model that is a failure maybe they should try a more proven approach such as housing first and work toward the elimination of the need for 350 bed shelters?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Vanier

Maybe the SA and the city should rethink their paradigm? Instead of doubling down on a model that is a failure maybe they should try a more proven approach such as housing first and work toward the elimination of the need for 350 bed shelters?

Ironically, I think the SA's programming includes a "housing first" component. Although I agree that the nimbyesque controversy rather overshadows more important issues.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Vanier

Maybe the SA and the city should rethink their paradigm? Instead of doubling down on a model that is a failure maybe they should try a more proven approach such as housing first and work toward the elimination of the need for 350 bed shelters?

I don't disagree, but Ottawa has been implementing a Housing First policy for several years and there is still significant demand for temporary shelter beds.

[rocketphish]

'Housing first' model pitched as alternative to Vanier homeless shelter
Symposium today on strategy advocates say is improvement on long-term shelter stays

CBC News Posted: Sep 19, 2017 5:30 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 19, 2017 7:47 AM ET

Opponents of the Salvation Army's controversial plan to open a large shelter on Montreal Road in Vanier are holding a symposium on an alternative model Tuesday.

The housing-first model "is the opposite of treatment first," said Tim Aubry, a University of Ottawa psychology professor who has studied homelessness and is one of the speakers signed up to talk at the symposium.

"It's getting people into housing first, quickly, and attaching support to it. It's getting people into regular housing, typically private market rental housing," Aubry told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning Monday.

"It comes with support that's quite intensive, that involves either case management or a model called community treatment," he said. "People are followed very closely."

The model can also include housing co-ordinators who work with landlords on any issues that arise, Aubry said.

The Salvation Army's plan for its new shelter at 333 Montreal Rd. includes 350 beds, 140 of which would be reserved for emergency use.

Vanier resident and symposium organizer Randall Bartlett, a chief economist at the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa, said the housing-first model is a better way forward than emergency shelters.

"Emergency shelters are one of the least effective ways to help chronically and episodically homeless in our community, and it's also the most expensive way of helping those people," Bartlett told Ottawa Morning.

"Housing first is significantly more effective — and significantly cheaper as well."

And Vanier already boasts a lot of social services for people in need, Bartlett said, adding that the shelter proposal "would be like creating the downtown eastside in Vancouver."

"In the case of Vanier specifically, it is a low-income neighbourhood. And there was work done by city staff in 2008 that found concentrating social services within low-income neighbourhoods actually has very detrimental effects," he said.

Bartlett rejected the argument that he simply doesn't want the shelter in his neighbourhood.

"It's not about moving it somewhere else. It's about taking advantage of the opportunity to actually reduce the number of emergency shelters that we have and permanently house people," he said.

"As I said, I don't think it's a not-in-my-backyard [argument]. We already have more social services than any other neighbourhood in the city per square kilometre. The thing is, it [shouldn't be] in anyone's backyard. That's really what the issue is, that this is a failed model. It's the most expensive, and it's a failed model, and we should be moving on from this."

Emergency shelters still play an important role in a community, according to Tim Richter, president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.

But the number of beds needed, he said, depends on the homeless population in a city.

"You have to think of emergency shelters as a piece of your homeless system. In a perfect homeless system or in a well-designed homeless system, shelters are there to support people in a crisis. [They are] designed for short stays in a crisis situation, as opposed to a long-term stay situation."

Richter agreed it was more cost effective and efficient to move people out of shelters and into housing, especially as data shows 60 per cent of shelter space across Canada is used for long-term stays.

"A shelter is not a home. It's not designed to be a home and shouldn't be considered a solution to homelessness. Shelters do play an important role in a homeless system to meet that crisis need, to meet the need of somebody that suddenly loses their housing. And they play an important role in helping move people out of the homeless system quickly," he said.

"But they should not be used … for long-term accommodation."

Other people scheduled to talk at Tuesday's symposium include Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, who has spoken out against the Salvation Army's proposal.

The symposium also features Jaime Rogers, manager of the homeless and housing development department with the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society, and David Gibson, executive director at the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre.

With files from Ottawa Morning and Kimberley Molina

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/hou...-vanier-shelter-salvation-army-1.4294492

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Egan: The Sally Ann's Vanier shelter — enough of where, how about why?
The Salvation Army’s proposed shelter and social-service hub on Montreal Road has generated a lot of noise.

Ottawa Citizen Published on: September 20, 2017 | Last Updated: September 20, 2017 4:28 PM EDT

This week, it generated a little light: at a two-day symposium, a number of academics and leaders in the homeless field made the case that a $50-million complex that houses 350 people — mostly for short-term transitions — is simply the wrong path forward for the city.

Advocates for the so-called Housing First method, which the federal government has spent millions and years studying, say investing in bricks and mortar to congregate the homeless and vulnerable on one site is out-of-date thinking that ignores our hard-won evidence.

Briefly, Housing First is an approach that quickly provides housing to a homeless person — at a location they choose in the private market, with no “readiness” conditions — and “wraps” them in supports to deal with stability issues. Instead of waiting for fresh builds — like a Sally Ann — it uses rent supplements to place the person in a mixed, established community and simultaneously works on their physical, mental, addiction and life issues.

The At Home/Chez Soi project took five years and $110 million and is considered the biggest study of its kind in the world. It followed more than 2,000 homeless, some for years, in five cities. Using the Housing First approach, the successfully-housed rate after 24 months was between 77 and 89 per cent — and there were significant savings in social-service dollars.

Tim Aubry, a psychology professor at the University of Ottawa and top Canadian researcher on homelessness, was a lead with At Home. He’s critical of the Salvation Army plan, particularly the sizeable residential component.

“It’s the old model,” he said, describing the Sally Ann’s housing plan as transitional or “residential continuum” in an institutional setting.

“What’s fresh and new about Housing First is that (the homeless) jump over that.” The problem with a $50-million building and 350 beds, he said, is it creates a system that need to be continually supplied — ergo, we need to find clients to house there instead of quickly placing them in the community.

“This is going to leave a very large footprint,” said Aubry. “It will be tough to move to a full-fledged Housing First approach.”

Marc Provost, the executive director of the Salvation Army’s Booth Centre, has heard it all before. The George Street centre — attacked in its current location, criticized for its possible new Vanier home — has had a Housing First-type program since 2008.

He said the team consists of two “housing locators,” eight Housing First managers and one rooming house case manager. Since inception, it has had a 93 per cent rate of housing retention and typically has about 120 clients on its case load.

“The Salvation Army is very vested in the Housing First approach. We know it works very well with a large proportion of people.”

He said the Sally Ann has no interest in providing long-term housing for clients in its current or proposed building. “As soon as people walk into our building, if they are homeless, from Day One we are looking for appropriate housing for them.”

The “mega-shelter,” as detractors like to call it, consists of a 140-bed emergency shelter, the same as the current size; a 60-bed special care unit for those with health problems; a 50-bed section for addictions and stabilization; and a 100-bed area for those either working or taking workshops on life skills.

Because of a lack of affordable housing in Ottawa, explained Provost, the Sally Ann knows there will be a waiting period to place the homeless into the community. Their approach, he said, is to house and support them with programs while they find a home.

“We know that the more tools we can give them, while they are waiting, the more successful they will be when they are housed.”

These are not merely theoretical arguments but important points of public policy: consider that the City of Ottawa pays a per diem of $44 a day for every client who stays in an emergency shelter. (In 2016, there were more than 525,000 “bed nights” in Ottawa shelters.)

There seems to be a growing recognition in the homeless sector that we need to try something different as successive “report cards” have found overall numbers stubbornly high, in the range of 7,000 individuals annually.

David Gibson is executive director of the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, which has 120 clients in a Housing First program. He despaired of those living in shelters for months, if not years. “If a shelter is our best solution for long-term housing, we are failing those people.”

Without mentioning the Sally Ann, he too suggested they were on the wrong path.

“To do things the way we have done them, whether for political or expediency reasons,” said Gibson, “is closed-minded and it puts people’s lives at risk.”

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email [email protected]

Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...er-shelter-enough-of-where-how-about-why

[acottawa]

I don't see how Housing First alleviates the need for emergency shelters. The average length of stay in shelters is 73 days - these facilities do not cater to long term residents. It isn't like Ottawa Community Housing or other organizations are sitting on empty units (in fact there is a long waiting list).

[Vanier]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I don't see how Housing First alleviates the need for emergency shelters. The average length of stay in shelters is 73 days - these facilities do not cater to long term residents. It isn't like Ottawa Community Housing or other organizations are sitting on empty units (in fact there is a long waiting list).

The 73 days in a shelter is the problem that Housing First addresses. And, there are many forms of housing available outside of public housing. The SA receives 45 to 55 dollars a day to shelter: 45 dollars day x 30 days per month is more than ample to put people in adequate housing and also provide them with some dignity/self respect.

The shelter model is a failure. We need to move on.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Vanier

The 73 days in a shelter is the problem that Housing First addresses. And, there are many forms of housing available outside of public housing. The SA receives 45 to 55 dollars a day to shelter: 45 dollars day x 30 days per month is more than ample to put people in adequate housing and also provide them with some dignity/self respect.

The shelter model is a failure. We need to move on.

But there aren't just empty apartments sitting around, even for someone without mental health and/or addiction issues it can take many weeks or months to find a place, move in, etc.

Even if the Salvation Army is given money to acquire a roster of apartments to be available on standby, the most likely neighbourhood for these to go would be Vanier, so the neighbourhood would still get the challenges without the curfews, medical resources, support and security offered at a shelter.

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Originally Posted by acottawa

the most likely neighbourhood for these to go would be Vanier

What makes you say this?

[roger1818]

While I think Housing First is a great idea if done right, I don't have confidence in the Government doing it right over the long term. During times of cutbacks, it will look like a good place to steal money from (cutting things like the social support needed to keep them off the street). Sure there will be consequences for doing so and it will actually cost more in the long run, but politicians would rather save money today than save money tomorrow as they may not be in power then and if they are, they will cross that bridge when they come to it.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by downtown_eddie_brown

What makes you say this?

Sally Ann would be looking for low-cost apartments/rooming houses where landlords are willing to rent to people with significant challenges. A significant portion of these units are located in Vanier and immediately surrounding neighbourhoods.

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Sally Ann would be looking for low-cost apartments/rooming houses where landlords are willing to rent to people with significant challenges. A significant portion of these units are located in Vanier and immediately surrounding neighbourhoods.

A few significant differences here are:

1) Measurably better outcomes for residents
2) Spatial diffusion over a broader area (multiple neighbourhoods) as opposed to a single building
3) Not built on a Commercial Main Street that will suffer from even more stigmatization, and hence create a worse environment for residents due to being located in an economically stagnant and isolated area.
4) Creates less of a single point of demand to attract drug dealers.
5) Residents have their own space to, for example, have a beer.

I don't think anyone is against housing the homeless, but they would prefer a more effective approach with fewer negative downstream effects.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by downtown_eddie_brown

A few significant differences here are:

1) Measurably better outcomes for residents
2) Spatial diffusion over a broader area (multiple neighbourhoods) as opposed to a single building
3) Not built on a Commercial Main Street that will suffer from even more stigmatization, and hence create a worse environment for residents due to being located in an economically stagnant and isolated area.
4) Creates less of a single point of demand to attract drug dealers.
5) Residents have their own space to, for example, have a beer.

I don't think anyone is against housing the homeless, but they would prefer a more effective approach with fewer negative downstream effects.

There are advantages and disadvantages either way. It wouldn't be much more dispersed. There are a limited number of neighbourhoods where landlords would consider renting to such tenants and where tenants could access the services they need. And integrating people with mental health and addition issues into neighbourhoods means that you're integrating their challenges (drugs, various symptoms of mental illness, antisocial behaviour) into neighbourhoods as well and away from a building with 24 hour staffing, security, access to counselling, cleaning, etc. I agree that moving people out of emergency shelters and into the community should be a goal to be achieved over several weeks or months, but I am not sure it should be the first step (which would be required if shelters are eliminated).

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Salvation Army not considering injection facility for proposed Vanier complex
The Salvation Army isn’t planning a supervised injection site for the shelter and health complex it has proposed for Vanier, but the organization is putting thought into how it could transport clients to those licensed facilities.

Ottawa Citizen Published on: September 22, 2017 | Last Updated: September 22, 2017 1:55 PM EDT

While the topic has come up in public, Salvation Army spokesman Glenn van Gulik said the organization has no intention of running an injection site if it receives planning approval for the project at 333 Montreal Rd.

Van Gulik said the Salvation Army has been considering how it could use its transportation services to bring clients to a supervised injection site if they need that harm-reduction service. The Salvation Army wouldn’t simply show clients to the street if they need to use drugs, he said.

“We wouldn’t be leaving people in a lurch,” van Gulik said.

The Salvation Army’s plan is to relocate its services on George Street in the ByWard Market to Montreal Road in Vanier.

The Sandy Hill Community Health Centre is the only facility that has a federal exemption to run a supervised injection site. Ottawa Inner City Health at the Shepherds of Good Hope and the Somerset West Community Health Centre have applications at Health Canada.

Moving the Salvation Army facility east to Vanier would make those injection facilities less accessible to drug users. The Sandy Hill health centre is about three blocks from the current Salvation Army facility on George Street.

David Gibson, executive director of the Sandy Hill health centre, is skeptical about any plans that use transportation services to bring clients to a supervised injection site.

“People don’t schedule when to inject,” Gibson said.

There are still several years to consider a harm-reduction strategy for drug users. The Salvation Army wants to break ground in 2019 if it receives the municipal land-use approval.

Isra Levy, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, said there shouldn’t be an assumption that Vanier would need a supervised injection site if the Salvation Army relocates its shelter, health and social services to the community.

“I don’t think that I’d tie those together at all,” Levy said. “We know that drug use is something that happens throughout this community and all sorts of economic groups. We do know people who are homeless have particularly special needs, but those needs are not only needs around addiction.”

Levy said he hasn’t analyzed the proposed location for the Salvation Army’s project. The most important thing is providing the services for people who need them, he said.

“There may be economies of scale issues where there’s some perfect point in the size of a grouping of people, but for me the much more critical question is what services are needed and will they be provided,” Levy said.

The Salvation Army is proposing a $50-million complex that would have 140 emergency shelter beds and 210 additional beds for specific programs, such as addictions counselling and other health services.

While the Salvation Army considers it a multi-service “community hub,” opponents who live in Vanier consider it an unwelcome “mega shelter.”

Van Gulik said the Salvation Army is poring through comments it received during an open house on Sept. 13 with the intention of filing a second planning submission to city hall. The Salvation army could make adjustments to its original plan, he said.

The city this week published a report summarizing 347 public comments received as of Aug. 31 on the Salvation Army’s development application. Of all the comments, 310 people either were opposed to the proposal or had concerns. Five people were in support.

People expressed concerns about the proposed location, size of the development, safety impacts, transportation impacts, planning process and the land-use rules for the property.

[email protected]

twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...ion-facility-for-proposed-vanier-complex

[downtown_eddie_brown]

City sets aside 3 days in November to deal with Salvation Army proposal
Planning committee will sit on Nov. 14, 15 and 17 if necessary to hear from public

CBC News Posted: Sep 26, 2017 4:13 PM ET| Last Updated: Sep 26, 2017 4:24 PM ET

Councillors should mark off three days in mid-November to consider public delegations and complex issues surrounding the Salvation Army's proposal for a 350-bed facility in Vanier, planning chair Coun. Jan Harder told committee colleagues Tuesday morning.

The city has set aside Nov. 14, 15 and 17 for the planning committee to consider the rezoning application and a proposal for a new $50-million Salvation Army facility on Montreal Road.

The Salvation Army plans to close its existing shelter on George Street in the ByWard Market and sell it to help pay for the new facility, which would be home to counseling, skills training and housing spaces.

There has been vocal opposition to the project —in particular, the scale and nature of the proposal — as well as people in support of the plan.

Harder is expecting a large crowd, which is why the meetings will take place in council chambers instead of the Champlain Room, the planning committee's usual meeting spot.

"People will want to be comfortable because people will want to sit and listen," Harder told reporters Tuesday. "I think we'll have people who will be engaged throughout the process."

The veteran councillor said she remembers the days when planning would routinely sit late into the evening, "and that's not good for us, too, because that makes it very difficult for us to stay focused, listen. And this is important to all these people that are engaged in it, no matter which side they're on."

Harder said she doesn't have a position on the project at this time.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/salvation-army-proposal-3-days-planning-november-1.4308083

[rocketphish]

Salvation Army project hitting planning committee agenda in November

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: September 26, 2017 | Last Updated: September 26, 2017 7:16 PM EDT

The chair of council’s planning committee says the Salvation Army’s development application for a health services centre and shelter in Vanier will be the subject of a three-day meeting in November.

“We know that there’s been a lot of attention to this and a lot of people are concerned about it and there’s a lot of people in support,” Coun. Jan Harder said after a planning committee meeting on Tuesday.

“There’s going to be a lot of people for various reasons that are going to want to come out and speak to the application on Montreal Road for the Salvation Army.”

The city is booking Nov. 14, Nov. 15 and Nov. 17 for the planning committee meeting on the Salvation Army’s proposal.

The November planning committee meeting also means council will likely make a decision on the application before the Christmas break.

Harder said she doesn’t yet have a position on the Salvation Army’s application, which calls for its services to be relocated from the ByWard Market to a proposed $50-million facility at 333 Montreal Rd.

“It has to be respectful at both sides and I think at times it hasn’t been,” Harder said, noting that that’s not unusual for a contentious planning file.

“This is really important to our city. It really is.”

Harder expects an extensive report from city planners on the Salvation Army’s application, including insights from departments outside of the planning department.

For example, the social services branch, transportation department, Ottawa police and the health unit could be valuable resources.

“All the bases will be covered, for sure,” Harder said.

It’s the hottest planning file at city hall, with stakeholders on both sides retaining high-power consultants.

By setting aside three days for the committee, Harder is trying to avoid one massive meeting lasting into the late evening hours, when patience often wanes around the committee table and in the public gallery. It doesn’t mean the committee will need all three days; it will largely depend on the number of people who sign up to speak.

Harder, a veteran councillor, predicts it will be an eye-opener for the committee since council hasn’t dealt with a an equally controversial file during this term.

“I intend to take my time with this, for sure,” Harder said. “It’s important.”


City loosens restrictions on tree plantings in new communities

The city wants to improve the leafy canopy in the suburbs, which have struggled to develop tree-lined streets because of a restriction on plantings in a specific ground condition.

Worried about damage to building foundations, council in 2005 approved rules that restricted tree plantings in sensitive marine clay on city property.

The rules said that if a tree is to be planted in an area with sensitive marine clay, the tree must have a low water demand and be planted away from a building the equivalent distance of the full height of the tree at maturity.

As a result, new communities with sensitive marine clay, if they are lucky to have trees at all, have only seen four species — Amur maple, serviceberry, crabapple and Japanese lilac.

Developers plant trees on city property in new communities and the city assumes responsibility for the trees.

The city estimates 34 per cent of land in Ottawa has potential to contain sensitive marine clay. The rate jumps to 57 per cent when just considering vacant land in the urban boundary.

The city’s Building Better and Smarter Suburbs initiative revisited the tree-planting guidelines.

The city worked with the Greater Ottawa Homebuilders Association to update the geotechnical information that led to council’s 2005 decision. Now, there’s more flexibility in the guidelines, hopefully leading to more tree plantings in new communities.

Harder, who represents Barrhaven ward, said families appreciate having at least one big, healthy tree on their properties.

“There are some values that people should have that make a difference to their quality of life,” Harder said.

And that, she said, includes appreciating neighbourhood trees.

Harder hopes the city can come up with a simple way to plant new trees in developed areas, now that there are better guidelines.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...ng-planning-committee-agenda-in-november

[kwoldtimer]

Has SA set a timeline for the closure of the George St shelter?