52-unit, $8.4 million supportive housing complex opens in Parksville

Susanne Lee, board chair for housing operator Island Crisis Care Society, told NanaimoNewsNOW she nearly cried when speakers described the impact the housing will have on the area.

“Once you have a roof over your head, you can then stop worrying about safety, about being dry and warm. You can start thinking ‘What do I want to do? What can I do to get well?'”

Island Crisis Care Society will provide residents with meal programs, skills training and wellness supports while also connecting them with outside services and health programs.

Lee said 118 people from the area applied for the housing, illustrating the need for such services.

“You think of those 66 people (turned down) and you just hope we can have more programs like this, or the 52 people will find success here and find market housing to leave space for others.”

The supportive housing complex was initially estimated to cost slightly less than $7 million. The provincial government will also provide annual operating funding of roughly $870,000.

The road to Orca Place

Designing and then creating the supportive housing facility was divisive from the beginning.

The land was first purchased by the City of Parksville with assistance from the Regional District of Nanaimo in 2017, under an administration which saw sweeping change in the fall 2018 municipal election.

The project was quickly viewed as contentious as a nearly two-and-a-half hour public hearing divided the community.

Those in favour of the project said it was desperately needed to quell a rise in those experiencing homelessness, while those opposed expressed concerns about the location near downtown and fear over what it would do to the neighbourhood.

Several of the most vocal community members at the public hearing, including future councillors Adam Fras and Doug O’Brien, filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of B.C. in August, 2018 after the lot at 222 Corfield St. was officially rezoned for the housing project.

In the lawsuit, they claimed the project was a done deal before the public hearing, area residents weren’t properly informed about the incoming development and they “felt intimidated (and) were deprived of the opportunity to meaningfully express their opinions” at the lengthy hearing.

At the time, the City of Parksville refuted the claims and stood behind the rezoning process.

However, the City of Parksville’s stance changed after the fall 2018 municipal election, where all successful candidates spoke out against the project in some manner.

The City’s legal representative said “the instructions we received from City council was to not challenge or defend the petition” when the matter returned to court in mid-December.

At the time, Parksville CAO Debbie Comis told NanaimoNewsNOW she stood behind the process her staff undertook, despite the claims from Parksville councillors and mayor.

Comis left the position roughly one month later.

Desires from the aggrieved Parksville residents to have a second public hearing about the housing at 222 Corfield St. never came to pass. The matter was settled out of court in June, 2019.

The scope of the Orca Place facility changed during the lawsuit proceedings, at the direction of Parksville’s mayor and council.

The City repaid the Regional District of Nanaimo the nearly $500,000 originally put forward to purchase the land because the money was contingent on a cold weather shelter component for the facility.

With the City of Parksville now the sole owners of the land at 222 Corfield St. south, an eight-bed cold weather shelter within the Orca Place complex was removed.

BC Housing is now working to find a suitable place for a similar shelter in the community. A shelter was originally operated by the Island Crisis Care Society in the basement of a church which unfortunately couldn’t meet demand.

Parksville mayor Ed Mayne and councillors declined an invitation to the opening announcement on Tuesday, though coun. Teresa Patterson arrived after. They were given a tour of the facility the day before.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit

by Spencer Sterritt

52-unit, $8.4 million supportive housing complex opens in Parksville

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