East-end councillors push back on proposed service depot locations

London city councillors representing much of the city's east-end are pushing back on a list of proposed locations where basic supplies are handed out to people who live in homeless encampments. 

"We cannot keep putting all of the problems on the east end, it's just that simple," said Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis, who represents Ward 2.  

Lewis was reacting to a list — produced by city staff at the request of council and made public Monday — of potential locations for service depots that serve homeless encampments.  

He pointed to one of the proposed locations: 1475 Brydges St. 

"That's the skateboard park," said Lewis. "These things are supposed to be away from schools and amenities and Prince Charles Public School is right next door."

The offerings at the service depots are simple: food, water and harm reduction supplies. The depots, which are intended to be mobile, also offer access to portable bathrooms and allow outreach workers to provide wellness checks and information about other services. 

Some of the encampments serviced by the depots have triggered complaints from residents concerned about drug use, garbage and other issues. 

Earlier this month, council directed staff to come up with a list of service depot locations with buffers of 50 to 100 metres away from residential properties. Staff were also instructed not to concentrate the potential locations in one area.

Council heard that service depot locations and the encampments they serve are overly-weighted toward downtown locations, such as Watson Street Park and Ann Street Park. 

For sites that meet the 100-metre residential setback, 123 locations were identified. However, only nine of those were identified as viable depot locations by staff.

For sites that met the 50-metre residential setback, 239 locations were identified, with 14 locations being viable for a service depot. 

None of the proposed locations are in north- or west-London neighbourhoods. 

East-end councillors who spoke to CBC News on Monday said the over concentration on east-London neighbourhoods is a problem. 

You can see the full list of proposed locations at the bottom of this story. 

Peter Cuddy represents Ward 3, where two locations are proposed.

"When you look at the list, it's fairly heavily loaded on the east end," said Cuddy. "It's not a matter of NIMBY-ism, it's a matter of us sharing this issue." 

Coun. Hadleigh McAllister represents Ward 1, an east-end ward where the city has been operating a semi-permanent service depot at Watson Street Park, located on Thames River between Wellington and Adelaide streets. 

McAllister said he's not certain what the list of proposed locations means about the Watson Street depot. 

However, he's concerned about one of the five proposed locations for his ward: 50 Sycamore St. That's the location of the now-closed Silverwoods Arena, which the city is planning to redevelop into a community centre.

"I'm an absolute 'No' on that one," said McAllister of the Sycamore Street location. "It's taken decades for the city to finally invest in that facility ... the two plans don't work together."  

It's notable that none of the service depot locations are located in Ward 13, which covers most of London's downtown core. That ward includes frequent encampment locations such Ann Street Park and a green space along the Thames River south of Nelson Street known as the Wellington Valley.

Coun. David Ferreira represents Ward 13 and said there are no easy choices when it comes to balancing the needs of people living outside and residents frustrated by encampments. He supports the move to "decentralize" support services for the city's homeless population, but also said pitting ward councillors against each other isn't helpful. 

"I'm hoping that council now realizes we've got to stop fighting with each other," he said. "We need to take a co-ordinated approach and stop being so politically minded." 

In addition to the council-approved setbacks, city staff had other constraints to work with in coming up with the list of proposed service hub locations, including: 

• No service depots within 150 metres of schools. 
• No service depots in flood-prone locations.
• No service depots on sidewalks, paths or under bridges.
• No service depots a list of 15 parks, including Gibbons Park, Victoria Park and Harris Park.

Community gardens, cemeteries and dog off-leash parks were also excluded as potential service depot locations. 

There is the list of 14 proposed locations located 50-metres away from private property, broken down by ward: 

Ward 1

• 2115 River Rd. 
• 15 Tommy Hunter Way/15 St. Julien St.
• 170 Helena Ave
• 50 Sycamore St (Silverwoods).
• 1139 Hamilton Rd 1.

Ward 2

• 1475 Brydges St.
• 650 Sovereign Rd.

Ward 3

• 1375 Clarke Rd & 1369 Clarke Rd.
• 769 Baransway Dr.

Ward 4

• 39 Connaught Ave & 77 Connaught Ave.
• 656 Elizabeth St.

Ward 8

• 650 Riverside Dr.  

Ward 12

• 324 Highview Ave E. 

Ward 14

• 2547 Boyd Crt.

City council will consider the proposed list of service depot locations when they meet Tuesday as the strategic priorities and policy committee. The staff report says once council selects the sites, the city will begin an engagement process with residents.