Charlottetown council votes against letting shelter and outreach centre stay on Park Street

Charlottetown's council has voted to reject the P.E.I. government's application to keep its emergency overnight shelter and Community Outreach Centre operating at their current location. 

During a special council meeting on Tuesday night, city councillors voted 8-2 to reject the province's request for a zoning change to cover the operations on Park Street in Charlottetown.  

Approving it would have allowed both services to remain in the area indefinitely, although the province had previously insisted the location would be temporary.

The timeline for what happens next is unclear. Housing, Land and Communities Minister Steven Myers had previously suggested the province would find a way to fight or nullify a city vote on the matter. 

"My vote was based on… land use and community impact," says Deputy Mayor Alanna Jankov, who voted against letting the services continue at the Park Street site.

"Wasn't an easy decision, not at all, and I can only hope we can continue building that relationship and working collaboratively with the province on what we can do as the City of Charlottetown to help facilitate and find areas [where] these services can be serviced in our community."

The province was asking the city to amend its Eastern Gateway Project master plan, the city's official plan, and Charlottetown's zoning and development bylaw to allow the two services to continue operating.

The overnight shelter was set up to provide safe housing for people who didn't have a place to stay, operating seven days a week between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. The outreach centre is designed to serve people dealing with mental health issues, coping with issues that accompany homelessness, and struggling to get back on their feet. 

"It's a difficult social struggle we are having right now with mental health and addictions," Jankov acknowledged.

But the city has spent $16 million to implement the Eastern Gateway Project in the last year or so, she went on to point out. Water and Grafton streets were realigned, and the intersection at the Hillsborough Bridge was reworked, to let the part of the city that includes the Park Street area become a hub of new development focused on the waterfront near the Hillsborough River.

The temporary zoning variance allowing the outreach centre to operate at Park Street will expire by the end of March, while the variance that let the emergency shelter keep running expired in December 2024.

"They'll no longer be adhering to an existing bylaw, so that will be something the provincial staff and city staff will work on, when that process will begin," Jankov said, adding there is usually a 30-day grace period.

"If they don't comply, then they get an order. Then from here it's court; it's the same process for any applicant," she said.

The province has 21 days to appeal the decision to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, according to Jankov.