Boyle Street Community Services (BCSC) can’t move to its proposed new location after the city’s subdivision appeal board revoked its development permit.
Elliott Tanti said Boyle Street staff, clients and supporters were disappointed by the decision.
“This decision will result in a delay in the construction of okimaw peyesew kamik – King Thunderbird Centre and will mean that lifesaving services desperately needed in the core of Edmonton will be impeded,” said Tanti.
The organization has been planning a move from its home on 105 Avenue beside Rogers Place to a building on the corner of 101 Street and 107A Avenue near Victoria School of the Arts.
BSCS said the current building is old –“literally crumbling”– and not accessible to those with limited mobility. The organization said it needs to make the move so it can keep serving the nearly 3,000 homeless people who live in Edmonton — a number it says has nearly doubled since before the pandemic.
Anne Stevenson, councillor for Ward O-day’min, said the decision from the SDAB surprised her.
“The potential loss of services in the area is something of concern given the urgent needs that we’re seeing,” said Stevenson, whose ward includes both the current and proposed locations.
On Nov. 10, the board heard from 16 appellants who Tanti said “intentionally mischaracterized the services provided by Boyle Street and vilified those they serve.”
Lawyer Janice Agrios, representing the Chinatown and Area Business Association and Chinese Benevolent Association of Edmonton, said the new facility won’t comply with land-use bylaws.
“The zoning that we had applied for was the same zoning that we’ve operated under in this facility for many, many years,” said Jordan Reiniger, the executive director of BSCS.
Reiniger said BSCS has already spent $8 million on the project.
“Anytime Boyle Street does anything, there’s a lot of road bumps in the work that we do,” he said.
Members of the central Edmonton community expressed concerns at the appeal hearing about how the move will impact businesses.
There are fears there will be more social disorder like vandalism, broken windows, loitering and people defecating or urinating around the building — resulting in damage to businesses and personal property.
“People (have) the perception that if Boyle Street left the community, that those problems will magically disappear as well. But we know that this King Thunderbird Centre is part of the solution to the challenges facing the core,” said Reiniger.
“It’s deeply troubling and disturbing when it’s seen as part of the problem. And it’s troubling and disturbing when an organization or a group like the SDAB affirms that.”
Alice Kos, president of the McCauley Community League, said at the appeal hearing that she wanted to see an increase in services offered in other neighbourhoods for people who are homeless and struggling with addictions.
“The decision certainly comes with a certain degree of relief,” said Kos.
“But it’s bittersweet because we also know that Boyle Street does need a new building and that they need to be supported by the city and province to find an alternate location, so it doesn’t feel like a win. It feels like, you know, ‘What’s next.'”
Kos said her neighbourhood is already home to 86 per cent of the city’s shelter beds and six of the largest social service organizations.
“It’s very important to talk about (the city’s) commitment to decentralizing social services out of Chinatown,” she said. “So placing a new one into Chinatown is in total contradiction to what the city has committed to doing.”
Despite the outcome of the appeal hearing, BCSC said it is going to move to the new centre anyways.
“The organization plans to continue to move forward with the King Thunderbird Centre and will be exploring all avenues of recourse in the coming weeks,” said Tanti.
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