Monday night will be a monumental evening at Cranbrook City Hall as the public will get its chance to vocalize their support, opposition, and everything in-between at a Virtual Public Hearing for a proposed homeless shelter in Cranbrook.
Heavily debated and highly contentious, the proposal first came to Cranbrook City Council in early January but was pushed back for further discussion on the topic. Last month, BC Housing went ahead with a public information session on the 13th and then a formal presentation to Cranbrook City Council on the 18th, leading up to Monday’s Public Hearing.
The proposed shelters would be at 209 16th Avenue North, adjacent to the Cranbrook Memorial Arena and sharing a building with the Community Connections Society (CCS), ANKORS East Kootenay and other support agencies.
PREVIOUS: Heavily debated Cranbrook homeless shelter moving to Public Hearing (Jan. 20, 2021)
Some concerns raised by the public and by members of City Council are safety, due diligence on a proper location for the shelter, proximity to Mount Baker Secondary School, potential drug use, among others.
On the flip side, those in support have voiced that Cranbrook needs a homeless shelter, the location work because of its proximity to other support services and that it will provide a safe gathering space for the community’s vulnerable population.
The proposed zoning change for the shelter would add “Supportive Housing”, “Supportive Services” and “Public and Social Services” as accessory uses on the land, already zoned as “Special Institutional”.
City staff noted that a permanent year-round emergency shelter was identified as a housing gap in Cranbrok’s latest Housing Needs Report.
The current homeless shelter proposal would have approximately 39 sleeping beds for men and 10 for women, as well as a common area.
The highly contentious homeless shelter has seen support and opposition from all sides of the community. Attached to Monday’s official City Council agenda includes over 200 pages of letters, signatures, emails, and more from the public about the proposal.
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Anyone wanting to speak at Monday’s Public Hearing must have pre-registered by emailing [email protected] with their name, address, and phone number before February 1st. Those that did pre-register are asked to phone 1-833-313-1490 before 5:50 pm on Monday to confirm their registration. The City of Cranbrook said the meeting number is 146 580 503 6 and that if a caller is asked for an attendee number, they just need to press the “#” symbol. Those voicing their thoughts at the Public Hearing will be placed on hold and muted until it is their time to speak, but they will still be able to hear the proceedings.
Those that didn’t pre-register in time can still write their thoughts and submit them to City Hall in the mail slot or email [email protected] prior to 4:00 pm on Monday.
The live stream of the Public Hearing will begin at 6:00 pm on Cranbrook’s website.