Lethbridge Housing Authority rescinds previous zoning requests

By Lethbridge Herald on January 20, 2023.

The Lethbridge Housing Authority is withdrawing its request to have two land use bylaws amended to change classification of the Halmrast Manor and Castle Apartments to Direct Control. Herald file photo

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Housing Authority is withdrawing its request to have two land use bylaws amended to change classification of the Halmrast Manor and Castle Apartments to Direct Control.

In two December public hearings, city council heard heated objections from neighbouring businesses about the potential impact of the amendments.

The purpose of the amendments was to move certain uses from discretionary to permitted to allow the LHA to offer 24-hour support services to residents.

Robin James, chief administrative officer of the LHA, said Thursday instead the LHA will be applying for a discretionary use of supportive housing restricted under its downtown commercial zoning.

James said this will allow support for up to 25 individuals.

At the December hearings, James said people were scared that if she got direct control she would open a shelter.

“But I’m not. I think this will give the community an ability to get used to what supportive housing looks like and recognize it’s not a detriment to their neighbourhood or their community and then we can start developing more appropriate housing as people become more comfortable with it,” added the LHA CAO.

James spoke to opponents of the original rezoning applications after the hearing and she said some have come onboard with her plans.

One of the opponents who spoke at the hearing has now joined the LHA board.

“What we’re going to do is pull back on our rezoning application and instead we’re going to keep our downtown commercial zoning and we’re going to apply for a development permit for supportive housing restricted which will allow us – if approved – to go up to 25 units of supportive housing,” said James.

“The other one was unrestricted, which allowed us more than 25 units,” added James.

“Somebody can still appeal our development permit,” but the LHA talked to a couple of previous opponents who said they will support the permit application and write letters of support for James’ plan.

The LHA has reached out to neighbours who expressed their dissatisfaction with the rezoning request.

“We said ‘hey in that council meeting you spoke to not liking the rezoning, you weren’t pleased with the rezoning. We hear you, we want to be your neighbours, we want to work together, we’re not going to solve homelessness or housing insecurity alone. So let’s do a community strategy.

“We’ll pull back on what we’re asking for but we would like your support on the development permit and they completely agreed,” said James.

“It’s a better position for LHA to take as a community member. We’re going to hope to lead the way on this and we need the community buying into it. And if it’s compromise that we have to do to prove ourselves, then let’s do it and let’s get it approved so we can really start making some impact on the community,” added James.

At a recent SACPA meeting, James addressed the whole housing continuum “and this is why we’re not successful in Lethbridge because we’re taking individuals from homelessness and we’re putting them into market housing and we’re hoping that they’ll be successful with what supports you can put in place.

“But the reality is until they start coming through that housing continuum where we have appropriate supports that will actually assist them to reach their highest level of independence then we’re never going to be successful,” added James.

The goal of the LHA, she emphasized, is to provide housing with supports so individuals in the community can reach their highest level of independence.

To reach that level, some people may need mental health supports or a recovery program or other supports because their highest level of independence is lower due to a brain injury or other circumstance.

She said every individual is different and the LHA wants to make sure they all have the right housing available to them so they can reach the highest possible level of independence.

She said some people are born with developmental delays and “when your brain isn’t able to work and function in a way that someone else’s brain is, you can’t expect the same results. How do we safely and adequately house individuals who have developmental delays to ensure they’re successful, too?

“It could be eye opening to see that when people are adequately housed with the right supports, they succeed. They don’t decimate the neighbourhood, they don’t cause issues,” said James.

These supports will take significant pressure off the homeless situation downtown, said James.

She added that once people are entrenched in homelessness, it’s “really, really hard to come out of it so steps we can take as a housing management body to ensure people don’t become entrenched in homelessness I think will be huge.”

Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter