A last-ditch bid is being sought by the Lakeshore Village BIA to stop the opening of a shelter for the homeless until public hearings can be held in the community.

A letter was sent to Mayor John Tory and other City officials on Monday calling for a video vote on July 28, into the opening of the shelter at Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Eight St., be deferred until there has been public consultations, said Chris Korwin Kuczynski, Chair of the Board of the BIA.

“We have not had a response from the Mayor,” Korwin Kuczynski says. “We are hoping that residents will get their say into this matter.”

The move by the City to acquire 2950 and 2970 Lake Shore Blvd. W., which includes a vacant office building and Bi Way Store, has split members of the community with some property and business owners against the shelter, and many others who disagree citing the homeless have to live somewhere.

The BIA held a meeting and members say they stand to lose funds to their treasury since the shelter will be subsidized by the City and not commercial.

The acquisition was adopted on July 7 by the General Government and Licensing Committee and considered by City Council in a record two-weeks.

“The use of the property as a municipal shelter will support City Council’s direction to expand the number of permanent new shelter beds by 1,000,” according to City officials.

The City said the two properties ‘create a large-sized property that allows flexibility in responding to changes in shelter standards and demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.’

Officials with the City’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration say in response to the virus more space will be required with a two-metre separation between beds and other distance requirements.

“As demand for municipal shelters changes, the property can be partly or wholly transitioned into supportive or transitional housing,” according to the City.

Preliminary site investigations have been completed and sufficient funds for renovation and remediation have been made available.

If City Council approves the acquisition of the properties, renovation to shelter standards will commence in 2021 for the shelter to begin operations in 2022. It is estimated that it will contain about 100 beds.

The shelter will serve equity-seeking groups such as seniors, people with disabilities, individuals with mental health issues, the working poor, Indigenous people, people who identify as LGBTQ2S and other vulnerable groups.