Sidney gives green light to extreme-weather shelter for three years

Sidney council agreed to approve a temporary-use permit for an overnight shelter in St. Andrew’s Anglican Church.

Nearly a year after rejecting a location for an extreme-weather shelter, Sidney has approved a new space for residents to stay overnight during severe conditions. Sidney council voted 6-1 Monday night to approve a temporary-use permit for an extreme-weather shelter in St. Andrew’s Anglican Church. The shelter will be in the meeting hall of the church at 9691 Fourth St. and will open between Oct. 15 and April 15 when cold weather threatens the health and safety of people who are unhoused.

The permit is valid for the next three winters. Council narrowly rejected a proposal last September for an extreme-weather shelter to operate out of a community space in Wakefield Manor, a 24-unit seniors building subsidized by B.C. Housing. Instead, the town approved an overnight warming centre in a space adjacent to Sidney’s library, which provided chairs and blankets for people.

The extreme-weather shelter will provide mats for sleeping, but will otherwise operate similarly, said Tricia Sexton-Earl, CEO of Beacon Community Services, which operated the warming centre and will run the shelter. Sexton-Earl said use of the warming centre demonstrated the need for a shelter and she’s pleased council has given it the green light. The warming centre opened for seven nights between February and April and was used by 15 different individuals over those seven nights, she said.

The majority of those using the space were over 50, with several over 75, and more than half were Indigenous, Sexton-Earl said. “So we’re talking about seniors who are extremely vulnerable, and if they had been left out in the street during those cold conditions, they would probably not have survived,” she said. “The people that used the shelter were respectful and grateful, and very considerate of shared community spaces.”

She estimates the shelter will operate for around 13 nights per year. Rev. Kelly Duncan of St. Andrew’s said there’s a clear need for the shelter. She said she does not expect people to come from Victoria in the event of an extreme weather event, addressing a concern raised when Wakefield Manor was being considered.

Some said operating a shelter could lead to a situation like the 900-block of Pandora Avenue in Victoria, where the unhoused congregate. “Our perspective is when we give folks that are underhoused a place to be, then they’re not in doorsteps, they’re not in the middle of businesses. They are warm and safe,” Duncan said.

Council heard on Monday from residents both in favour of and opposed to the extreme-weather shelter, including a petition with 132 signatures urging council to choose a different location. The petition said the proposed location has generated “significant concern, fear, and frustration” from people who believe it is an inappropriate site, given its “close proximity to the homes of frail and elderly seniors, families, and local businesses.” Coun.

Chad Rintoul, the lone vote in opposition on council, said the warming centre at the library was effective, and he would have preferred to see that location continue due to the concerns of some residents about locating a shelter in the church. Coun. Terri O’Keeffe, however, said the church is a better option, since it’s more centrally located and provides other services accessed by people who are unhoused, with whom it has established relationships.

The church also has a kitchen and can provide hot meals, while the library was limited to cold sandwiches and snacks, and sleeping mats will allow for a better night’s sleep than the chairs provided in the library warming centre, O’Keeffe said. Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith said while there was some opposition, council saw broad support for the extreme-weather shelter. The church is a better location, and it’s expected to operate without incident as the library warming centre did, he said in an email.