London health unit evaluating 2 potential locations for supervised consumption site

The Middlesex-London Health Unit is considering a new potential location for its planned permanent supervised consumption site.

The health unit announced last month they had submitted an application to Health Canada to open a consumption site at 372 York St., just east of Waterloo Street, across from the London Free Press building. The site formerly housed a car rental business.

Now, health officials say they’re weighing the possibility of locating the site at 120 York St., at the northeast corner of York and Talbot streets.

“We’ve been working really hard to find any location where there’s a landlord who will rent to us and it meets the criteria of the City of London’s planning department, in terms of zoning, and so we now have two options,” said Dr. Chris Mackie, medical officer of health for the health unit, in an interview with 980 CFPL Tuesday.

Mackie said the new location was floated by Amir Farahi on behalf of developer Shmuel Farhi, who owns 120 York St. Mackie says the proposal came up after the health unit announced their intent to open a supervised consumption site across from the Free Press building.

Farhi’s company, Farhi Holdings, is among several organizations who have grouped together to convert the Free Press building into an entrepreneurship centre once the newspaper moves to its new location at 210 Dundas St. The centre, dubbed Venture London, is set to house tenants later this year.

View image in full screen

“They’re a bit different — 120 York St. — there’s a larger footprint so we would put more services in there,” Mackie said. “But 372 York St., it’s basically a double-wide trailer plus a garage behind, we could potentially add another trailer to that site and give it the sort of footprint that we really need to have a good service.”

Both potential locations would require extensive renovations, he said.

According to the MLHU, the site would see users supervised by medical professionals and skilled harm-reduction workers. The facility would also include an after-care area, where staff can link clients to community support services, such as counselling, treatment and housing.

With an application already before Health Canada listing 372 York St. as the best option, health officials will have to make a final decision soon lest it substantially delays the application process, he said. The health unit is currently conducting public consultations on the issue.

In addition to public feedback, Mackie said they would seek out the opinion of those around the horseshoe.

WATCH: 1st hospital-based supervised consumption site

2:39 1st hospital-based supervised consumption site

“I’m a humble health practitioner, I’m not the arbiter of public opinion the way city council is, so we’ll be looking for their input at the appropriate time,” he said. “From an operational perspective, both of these sites would be quite viable.”

The final location of the site would have to meet certain criteria laid out by the city’s planning department, including it be close enough to those who need the service, but “not close enough to businesses and residents that it’s going to really disrupt things,” he said.

Asked whether the health unit had a preference when it came to either location, Mackie replied, “at this point, no.”

“We’re still in the public consultation process, and we’re listening very carefully to the input of those members of public, so that could change, but at this point, we’re neutral in choice.”

A decision from Health Canada will likely come down in May, Mackie said, adding health unit officials were still waiting on a timeline from Queen’s Park about provincial funding.

“We’re hoping that it follows similar timelines and that we can get shovels in the ground in May or June,” he said.