By Spencer Sterritt

Hot meal program to continue at same location despite setbacks

Mar 11, 2019 | 12:58 PM

NANAIMO — A valuable free hot meal program will continue despite having to tear down much of the outdoor eating area which had become a safe space for people in need.

The walls, cupboards and countertops at the Stone Soup location on Nicol St. were removed Monday morning, one-year after the program started. All that remains in the backyard of the Nicol St. house is flooring built on pallets and a large tent covering after the City of Nanaimo discovered a building permit for the construction was never issued.

Organizer Tanya Hiltz, who rents the land Stone Soup was built on, was distraught and upset as the walls were taken down and tossed into a disposal bin.

Despite the setback, she told NanaimoNewsNOW Stone Soup will continue for as long as possible at the same location.

“We’re in the kitchen right now. There’s no law that says you can’t have a tent up in your backyard, so what can you do?”

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Roughly 150 people a night arrive at the tent for a meal and a chance to sit. The food is prepared off-site at a full commercial kitchen before being transported to the house and served by various community organizations.

Hiltz said she and other organizers didn’t have any idea they’d made a misstep until a City of Nanaimo building inspector arrived in early March to follow up on a complaint. The City discovered a building permit for the expansion was never granted and the structure needed to be taken down.

She expressed shock at the news, since the organization was supported by many people from the City, including then-mayor Bill McKay.

Questions to McKay about if he’d ever discussed requiring a building permit with Hiltz and other other organizers were never answered.

Hiltz said they plan on keeping the hot meal program running as smoothly as possible and will try to apply for a building permit once they’ve had a chance to settle down.

Changes will also have to be made to how food is stored and handed out each night after Island Health informed organizers of several violations of the Food Premises Regulations. This includes storing unprotected food in unsanitary conditions, poor record-keeping and allegedly making some of the soup in the Hiltz’s home.

When the notice from the City was given, a notice from the landlord Paul Manhas was also delivered saying the Hiltz’s had breached their rental agreement and would receive notice of termination of their tenancy. 

As of March 11, no notice of termination was delivered. 

Landlord Paul Manhas told NanaimoNewsNOW he supports the initiative and the desire to feed so many people, but he has serious concerns about the location of Stone Soup. 

Manhas said he’s willing to work with organizers but couldn’t support any efforts to apply for a building permit to allow the rebuilding of the Stone Soup site.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit