Hurry Up & Wait...

Shelter plan stymied by slow-moving city, developer says
MONTE PAULSEN
Special to The Globe and Mail
October 12, 2007

VANCOUVER -- Union Gospel Mission's plan to build a new homeless shelter in the Downtown Eastside has been mired in Vancouver City Hall for almost two years, and is not expected to break ground until 2008.

"I'm beginning to wonder whether our proposal is receiving the appropriate attention and sense of urgency that a project of this nature deserves," said Maurice McElrea, president of Union Gospel. Mr. McElrea said homelessness has tripled while he's waited for a development permit.

"There is a level of frustration. ... We have been waiting for almost two years," he said. "We have consulted with the city and with our neighbours. We have made numerous modifications to our plans. We have responded to every request. And yet still we wait and wait for permission to build a shelter with our own money on our own land."

The multi-use facility, which would bunk nearly half of the homeless being turned away from Vancouver's overnight shelters, is opposed by Strathcona residents who say their East Side neighbourhood already has too many troubled residents.

With Premier Gordon Campbell scheduled to announce funds for more than a dozen new homeless shelters this afternoon, the Union Gospel delays raise questions about whether Vancouver's slow-moving development office can respond to the fast-growing homelessness crisis.

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