City of Nanaimo approves lease for new navigation centre
The building will be located at 1030 Old Victoria Road and will feature 24-hour support for 60 units. Photo: City of Nanaimo
Nanaimo city council has approved a 3-year lease for a new temporary housing building in the south end of Nanaimo.
The 3-year lease, with the option for two 2-year renewals, is for the yet-to-be-built Nanaimo Navigation Centre. The centre will be located at 1030 Old Victoria Road.
The building comes in partnership with BC Housing and the City of Nanaimo. Vancouver Island Mental Health Society would operate the site offering 24-hour support for 60 units.
Back in January of this year the Ministry of Housing and the City of Nanaimo signed a HEART & HEARTH memorandum of understanding that outlines the shared responsibilities for creating more housing and shelter opinions to reduce homelessness in the city.
At the council meeting on July 8th, councillor Paul Manly asked if BC Housing has committed to doing community consultation for the community around the centre.
Dale Lindsay, chief administrative officer for the city said while BC Housing has a model called Community Advisory Committees Now for many of its projects, BC Housing has indicated that moving forward they are not leading any community advisories and hope the actual operators of the building will oversee them.
When councillor Erin Hemmens made the motion to approve the 3-year lease with options for renewal she mentioned she thinks it is a miss-step for BC Housing to not set up a community advisory committee ahead of the building being implemented.
“I think they're gonna be burned on that and I think that's a message that we can carry to BC Housing that engagement and proper community input and touch points are gonna be crucial in the success of this project,” Hemmens said.
She also mentioned that for residents who may worry about problems that could occur from the new building, she said to reach out to the local neighbourhood association. She said funds are available for areas that want to create their own association.
“The City of Nanaimo, I think about two years ago, voted to free up funds for any community that wants to organize around being a neighbourhood association, and that is something that your neighbourhood can do,” she said. “It will provide you access to resources through the city and access to city staff.”
Councillor Tyler Brown then made an amendment to the original motion that the lease would be contingent on BC Housing making a good neighbour agreement and establishing a community advisory committee.
The amendment passed with all but Mayor Leonard Krog in favour. Krog opposed saying he has trust in BC Housing having already signed a memorandum of understanding with them.
“For me, it is about good faith, and I'm not suggesting the rest of the council doesn't have good faith, but I take my signature and my word as my bond, and I take it particularly seriously when we're talking tonight about providing housing for 60 people,” Krog said.
Councillor Ben Geselbracht who lives in the south end of Nanaimo said he understands that as there is a drug crisis and homeless crisis, it might lead to some residents feeling unsafe. But he said this new building will allow for 60 more people to be able to have proper housing and support.
“One thing through my experience here that I'm very sure about is that somebody that has a roof over their head with medical services is a lot safer to everyone and to themselves than if they're out on the streets without it,” Geselbracht said. “When somebody is out on the streets, sleeping rough, they're more likely to get their head kicked in, more likely to get an addiction, more likely to have septic wounds that are untreated, and in a very, very difficult spot that can be very unpredictable.”
He added he would like to see more services built throughout the rest of the community, not just in the south end. He stressed getting people off the street.
“I do know that right now, with this many people on the streets without even a roof over their head, they're much worse, regardless of where they are, out on the streets because it's so unpredictable, and it just gets worse and worse,” he said. “Right now, what we're running into is a situation where people are just getting worse and worse and becoming a greater and greater threat to the community.”
Manly said there is a large need for more housing in Nanaimo as a point-in-time count from 2023 found 78 per cent of homeless people in the city do not have access to shelter at night.
“When you compare that 78 per cent figure of who's unhoused and has no access to shelter in Nanaimo, it is only 15 per cent in Victoria, 15 per cent of people that are unhoused in Victoria have no access to shelter. In Vancouver, it's 30 per cent,” Manly said. “In Nanaimo, we are at 78 per cent and we have to do whatever we can to assist people on our streets.”
Counsellor Sheryl Armstrong said she is opposed to the motion because she thinks there is a bigger need in the city for housing for those in recovery, as well she says there is not enough support for those experiencing homelessness due to poverty. She says she thinks most funding supports those homeless due to mental health and addictions.
She also said she thinks the building has double the amount beds that should be in it as well says the building is located too close to the Clay Tree Society.
The motion for the 3-year lease, with the option for two 2-year renewals passed with Armstrong opposed.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.