City council approves new shelter development strategy
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on June 28, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com Lethbridge city council has approved a new shelter development strategy.Council on Tuesday voted unanimously in its consent agenda to accept a recommendation from its Cultural and Social Standing Policy committee to have it direct administration to provide it – through that SPC – with quarterly updates on the implementation of the Shelter Development Strategy.
The SPC also asked council have administration work with the province and any current or potential shelter operators “to identify capital and operational funding sources for temporary and permanent shelter development on City owned land that will adequately address the needs of those who are difficult to house.”
Lethbridge is seeing an increase in the numbers of homeless and unsheltered and the City says additional shelter capacity could improve that situation.
Council’s vote on Tuesday coincides with a previous council direction to rezone the present shelter and explore amendments to Land Use Bylaw 6300 which addresses shelter, supportive housing and other related social uses.
A public hearing is scheduled on July 11 on the rezoning.
This will be an opportunity to address “some restrictions in the current zoning which was done in the ’80s around expansion and different kind of uses that are more in alignment with the modern-day shelter,” said Andrew Malcolm, general manager of Social Community Development outside council chambers.
The shelter strategy has two main goals, says the City. They are:
1) To clarify the City’s involvement in shelter development and identify opportunities to ensure that there is land available and adequately zoned for ‘shelter’ use as defined in Land Use Bylaw 6300.
2) To ensure that the City of Lethbridge has adequate shelter capacity to house all those experiencing homelessness in the Community on any given night.
The City of Lethbridge owns the present shelter and manages a lease with a third-party operator – the Blood Tribe Department of Health – which was chosen and funded by the province.
The City has historically taken a hands-off approach to shelter development, leaving that up to the province and not-for-profit groups.
Malcolm, general said “the shelter development strategy is an opportunity for administration and the community to kind of understand where city council is at with six different directives that have been provided over the last 14 months regarding shelter capacity” and to look at more shelter opportunities.
“So we really took this opportunity to bring it all together to one collective direction which really influences, or sets, what the City of Lethbridge’s goal will be on trying to get the shelter capacity increased in our community.”
He said the strategy focuses on four key areas including land use, city land itself, advocacy and funding.
“What we have done is we’re trying to move the needle in terms of the City of Lethbridge administration having a more active role in trying to bring shelter capacity to our community while also recognizing that there are limitations to that.
“We don’t envision ourselves getting into a place where we’re actually funding and operating our own shelter but that there’s certainly a great deal of movement we can do to be pro-active and try to increase our ability to get more diverse options for shelter in our community,” said Malcolm.
This ties to the recently adopted encampment strategy which recognizes that the City “can move people around in our community all day and all night and if they’re not provided with safe and secure shelter and housing options” it can be an endless task, Malcolm added.
“We’re excited that this is the next step in the right direction.”
Issues affecting the ability to increase shelter capacity include the lack of available and appropriately-zoned land to buy, develop or re-develop, one of many matters which was addressed at a recent SPC. Other issues include access to funding and the willingness – and availability – of operators.
“We know there are significant needs for shelter resources in our community,” said councillor Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, Vice Chair of the Cultural and Social SPC, in a media statement.
“Through considering appropriate amendments to the land use bylaw, we could use the Municipal Land Banking Strategy to strategically bank and utilize land for municipal initiatives including shelter and social service uses. Today’s decision is a big step in the right direction.”
As part of the motion, council also rescinded a resolution made in April which approved a budge of up to $100,000 to hire a consultant to do two things:
1) Conduct community engagement on the creation of a made for Lethbridge Community care campus.
2) Create conceptual designs for a community care campus; and 3. Develop a business case for a community care campus.
This previously allocated money from Council Contingencies will now go toward the execution of the strategy at the discretion of City Manager Lloyd Brierley or his designate. Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter 4
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