Addictions recovery centre in Linden Woods moving forward after split vote on appeal

A plan to turn a house in the upscale Linden Woods neighbourhood in southwest Winnipeg into an addictions recovery centre can move ahead despite opposition from some community members.

Dozens of residents filed appeals after the city approved a conditional use application for the Lindenwood Drive E. home earlier this year, raising concerns about safety and saying they had not been properly consulted. 

At a hearing of city council's appeals committee on Wednesday, councillors split the vote over whether to allow the plan to proceed.

In a tie vote on an appeal, the original decision stands — meaning the centre can go ahead as approved.

Committee chair Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface) voted to deny the appeal and uphold the original decision.

Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) and Coun. Shawn Dobson (St. James) sided with opponents of the project and voted in favour of the appeal. 

The result means that Regenesis Centre for Recovery Inc., the non-profit organization operating the facility, can convert the one-storey house on Lindenwood Drive E. into a recovery centre. It will be the organization's first facility, providing live-in and outreach service for six people.

It will cater to women and non-binary adults, who identify as people of colour, LGBTQ2S+ or disabled.

Regenesis says it plans to use the house as a temporary site for the recovery centre until next August, while it looks for a permanent location.

Executive director Cindy Foster told the committee the organization had looked at several other potential locations to rent, but its applications were denied once owners learned what the intended use was. 

"We would like to use this location for Regenesis Centre for Recovery so we can begin providing services as soon as possible," Foster said in an interview.

"This location provided us the opportunity to do so without having to wait for multiple years to have enough capital to establish a permanent location."

Community opposition

Ninety-five separate notices of appeal against the decision were entered as exhibits for Wednesday's hearing, along with an additional 75 letters in support of the appeal (including some from the same people who filed notices).

Anna Yu said she surveyed more than 200 residents living within a one-kilometre radius of the home, and the vast majority of those who responded opposed the plan. 

"We don't have enough information about the rehabilitation, like the risk assessment," Yu said.

A number of people who spoke at Wednesday's hearing worried about the proximity of the home to a nearby school, playground and seniors' home. 

They also questioned whether residents would be properly supervised, noting that staff would only be on site during weekdays, and not overnight.

"Someone may have, like, mental health disability," said Yu. "So in that situation, we do think maybe they need to have staff to accompany those people."

John Orlikow, the councillor for the River Heights-Fort Garry area, also spoke in opposition to the plan.

"This really is setting a precedent in how we're going to go forward for all our neighbourhoods, and I think the program and the location are just not properly suited," he said.

But Foster said residents at the home will have already gone through primary addictions treatment.

"We're really looking at someone who's at the end of their supervised journey to recovery," she said. "What we're doing is we're providing a bridge between primary treatment and reintegration back into the greater community."

Foster said staff will be on call 24/7, and the home will be monitored by security cameras.

Premier Wab Kinew weighed in on the plan, and the community opposition, at a Tuesday sod-turning event for the Anne Oake recovery centre — an addictions recovery centre for women in the works in south Winnipeg. 

Kinew reflected on his own experiences with addiction.

"I'm somebody who's made good on a second chance to come back from addictions," he said. "So recovery is possible, sobriety and people turning their lives around is possible."