Zoning snag delays emergency shelter that's ready to go in Fredericton

Fredericton's emergency out-of-the-cold shelter opening has been delayed.

The Anglican diocese of Fredericton donated a house to the Community Action Group on Homelessness to be made into an overnight shelter, but the city said the property wasn't zoned properly and couldn't open Thursday afternoon as planned.

News of the delay came hours after the province announced $82,150 for the shelter planned for the former Anglican bishop's house in the downtown.

"An out-of-the-cold shelter is an exceptional measure because people are at risk of injury and potentially death because of the cold, because it's Canada," Faith McFarland, the group's community development co-ordinator, told reporters. 

"And now we have a disproportionately higher amount of people who are on our streets, and sadly we're trying to start an emergency shelter."

The group has to ask the city for a temporary zoning variance, but that can't happen until Dec.12 at the earliest, Fredericton Coun. Greg Ericson said.

It's not clear when the shelter might be able to open. 

In a news release, McFarland said the city "failed to take the requisite action to enable the project to proceed," and that it gave the action group "certain assurances" for opening the shelter but did not deliver.

Mayor Mike O'Brien said no promises were made about zoning.

"It appears my enthusiasm was taken as an endorsement that all was good to use this location," he said in a statement.

He said the city met with the group and the diocese​ Wednesday to talk about the plans, and that's when they discussed the zoning problem.

"There are real land-use issues to consider from a public safety perspective, both from a building code and fire perspective," he said. "We have a duty to ensure due process is followed to protect nearby residents and those using the building."

The shelter at 791 Brunswick St. was set to hold 20 people. McFarland said the idea was conceived less than two weeks ago out of necessity.

Ericson said according to the city's bylaws a house can't have more than four unrelated people living under one roof.  

If the shelter is operating while breaking bylaws, insurance companies would not honour claims, McFarland said.

"We cannot put the Anglican diocese of Fredericton under any risk in terms of liability or insurance," she said.

"It's very disappointing. It's been an incredible amount of work by everybody, even people inside of our city, and our community partners to pull this off. It was only a week ago that we even started talking about this and it may seem like a simple thing to pop up some cots, but there's a lot to it."