Richmond City Council has revoked its approval of a controversial supportive housing project.
The 90-unit complex had been slated to go up on a city-owned property at Cambie and Sexsmith roads, but the plan faced a lot of public opposition and was the focus of a string of vocal demonstrations over the past year.
Council said that the strong opposition led to their decision to vote against the project.
Last week, B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province was fully behind the project.
“If we had other alternatives, we would be considering them,” he said. “But unfortunately, there’s no other options right now.”
Kahlon said the province had made sure there was not going to be a safe consumption site on the property and there would be extra cameras and security.
Kahlon said he is now disappointed in the council’s decision to vote against the project.
“It’s disappointing because by 2027 we have two temporary sites that will have leases expiring, and that means we’re going to have 90 people that potentially could be sleeping in encampments or sleeping in front of businesses in the community,” Kahlon said.
“And I know the community said that to us, that’s not safe for anyone. And so we’ll wait for the City of Richmond to come forward with an alternative location. But time is ticking.”
Work on the site had been paused since last summer while other potential sites were evaluated, but the province said the Sexsmith Road location remains the best option.
When it was paused, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said the facility was meant to be a more stable home for people transitioning out of a pair of temporary modular housing projects in the city.
He said he understood neighbours’ concerns, but that scrapping the project won’t make the city’s homeless disappear.
“So I ask the question, would people rather deal with them when they are housed, when they have a basic level of housing and a roof over their head and some kind of security?” he said.
“Or would they rather deal with them when they are on the street somewhere or in very marginal circumstances just scraping by? I think the way to deal with it is to give them a leg up.”