Here are the businesses appealing London's supervised consumption site
Lawyers are appealing zoning changes that would allow a supervised consumption site at 446 York St.
An auto body shop, an investment group and two development companies have retained lawyers and filed zoning appeals in relation to London's proposed permanent safe consumption site at 446 York St., documents submitted to Tribunals Ontario show.
In early January, lawyers representing Burwell Auto Body Ltd., the Lance Howard Group, Drewlo Holdings Inc. and Northview Apartment Reit filed the appeals.
Burwell Auto Body and the Lance Howard Group are represented by lawyer Alan Patton, while Drewlo Holdings and Northview Apartment Reit are represented by lawyer Analee Baroudi.
The appeals were cited in a statement from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care regarding its decision to not grant funding from the proposed safe consumption site.
However, Minister Christine Elliott told London Morning host Rebecca Zandbergen that lobbying did not play a role in the province's decision to not grant funding.
'Tendency to congregate'
Patton told CBC News his clients are primarily concerned about the effect a supervised consumption site would have for their nearby businesses.
"People who go to the facility to get their daily dosage have a tendency to congregate in that general area, they don't go back to where they live or whatever," Patton said. "They congregate in this area and that becomes the problem for the existing businesses nearby."
London's chief medical officer, Dr. Chris Mackie, disagreed with the notion that loitering is associated with overdose prevention sites.
In an email statement, Drewlo Holdings said the proposed site was "not ideal" based on policies set out in the city's Official Plan, and is too close to nearby schools.
Baroudi's other client, Northview Apartment Reit, is not offering a statement at this time, Baroudi said.
A case management conference, which is an initial opportunity for the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal to get a sense of the appellants and their concerns, has been set for July 24, 2019 at 10 a.m.
What now?
Dr. Chris Mackie, London's chief medical officer, said the provincial funding application for 446 York St. was pegged at $1.3 million.
Although the federal government has lent its support to the proposed site, the province is responsible for funding healthcare services, Mackie said.
This means the 446 York St. site could proceed without the province's blessing, but the money would have to come from somewhere else, Mackie said.
Going forward, Mackie said the health unit is exploring "all options," including proceeding with the current proposed site, looking at additional sites and re-examining the current temporary overdose prevention site at 186 King St. The health unit and Regional HIV/AIDS Connection have also been asked to pursue a funding application for a mobile site.
The province has confirmed it will continue to fund the temporary site on King St. through March 2020.