Residents of New Toronto have mixed feelings about a large Municipal Shelter being opened at 2950 and 2970 Lake Shore Blvd. W. and are urgently seeking public consultations.
Toronto City Council will vote on Tuesday, July 28, if it will go ahead and purchase or lease the site that is now a vacant office building and former Bi Way store for use as a shelter for the homeless and people with challenges.
Members of the Lakeshore Village BIA held a news conference on Saturday to update the media and community members. They plan to ask for a motion by the City to be deferred, pending the results of a public hearing.
“There has to be a public hearing into this process,” says Chris Korwin Kuczynski, Chair of the Board of the Lake Shore Village BIA. “We have been working extremely hard to improve our community and this will set us back.”
City documents show negotiations have been underway since last November for the City to obtain the site for a shelter, which will start off with about 95 beds.
The buildings will be brought up to standard next year and will be in operation by 2022.
BIA Treasurer Rattan Gandhi told supporters outside the Maple Leaf House Grill & Lounge at First St., that the shelter will be bad news for developers, realtors, homebuyers, local businesses and property owners who have made investments in the area.
One woman says there are three schools in the area whose students will have to walk by the shelter.
The acquisition was adopted on July 7 by the General Government and Licensing Committee and will be considered by City Council on Tuesday.
“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 documents filed.
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.’
“All new shelters, including the property, are being designed so that they may be converted into housing in the future,” according to the City. “As demand for municipal shelters changes, the property can be partly or wholly transitioned into supportive or transitional housing.”
The shelter will serve equity-seeking groups such as seniors, people with disabilities, newcomers, individuals with mental health issues, the working poor, Indigenous people, people who identify as LGBTQ2S and other vulnerable groups.
The motion before City Council can be viewed here http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.GL14.11