The Property & Development Committee has just passed the buck and delayed the hearing on re-zoning for supportive homes until Nov. 6th.
This means the lengthy process of developing supportive homes that were needed YESTERDAY is being DELAYED MONTHS.
Various people registered to speak at the Public Hearing, who are waiting in the Zoom room or even came out to City Hall to speak, are thus being skipped out on for two months. They will have to register again and hopefully their schedules will permit taking another day off on Nov. 6th.
Councillor Wyatt frequently suggested he thought the Province and Federal Government should do more as he opposed going through with the proposed rezoning for supportive homes. They have more money, he said.
It should be noted that the City is providing very minimal operational funding for the supportive housing proposal. The bulk of City-activity is around re-zoning, which the PP&D Committee just stalled for months.
Some of the City’s administrative support is even occurring through the federally-funded Housing Accelerator Fund office. The Province is also going to provide the vast majority of operating dollars to keep these supportive homes going.
Wyatt has suggested that supportive homes are “too big” for being in the middle of single-family blocks and also suggested that the proposed supportive home on Plessis is not the “highest and best use” of the land. He has mused that a strip mall would be a better use than supportive homes.
The City’s Civil Service is going to acquire external appraisal of the value of the land. Councillor Wyatt has said that as the Board of Directors for a Corporation responsible for assets and liabilities the City of Winnipeg should consider selling City-owned land currently considered for supportive homes on the private market.