New home of P.E.I.'s outreach centre starting to take shape in Charlottetown

Fourteen modular units were delivered to the parking lot near the Park Street Emergency Shelter earlier this week, destined to become part of the Community Outreach Centre's new home.

Prince Edward Island Minister of Housing, Land and Communities Rob Lantz says the building chunks will be clipped together to form a facility measuring about 9,000 square feet to offer support to people facing joblessness, a lack of adequate housing, and addictions or mental health issues.

"We're well into the process now," he said. "It's actually less floor area then they have got up at the current facility on Euston Street right now, but it should suffice for what we are intending to do there."

A separate building will be created out of modular units for client intake, he said.

Lantz said the units sitting in the Park Street parking lot will be lifted into position by a crane, ending up inside security fencing on the site, when the city issues the permits the centre needs to operate in the neighbourhood.

That should happen in the next four to six weeks now that the province has submitted its application, city staff said at a committee meeting on Wednesday.

At that meeting, some councillors said they hadn't known the new centre would be created out of more than a dozen modular units. However, according to Charlottetown Deputy Mayor Alanna Jankov, the province had made that clear.

"It was in the application. I mean, the application was lengthy, so I understand councillors would be questioning it after the fact," she said. "But it was clearly set out, the approximate square footage of the modular unit that would be put together to operate as a temporary outreach centre."

The province is prepared to meet city council requirements that the new site be provided with 24/7 security, something the nearby Park Street Emergency Shelter already has in place, Lantz said.

"I've spoken to many people in the area and the shelter itself has not posed a lot of problems to date… If we can set up the outreach centre to operate on a similar model, I hope we can cut down on some of the disruption.

"I know there is a lot of fear and anxiety with some of the residents directly in the area," Lantz said.

For almost as long as the outreach centre has been in its current location on Euston Street, neighbours have spoken out about noise, property damage and aggressive behaviour on the part of some of its clients.

More recently, increased public drug use has led to further complaints from local residents. 

Fencing has been added to the new site, Lantz said, and the province intends to work closely with the city to address "important issues around security" and other conditions for permit approval.

"There are concerns over security, loitering of clients around the area, just generally a little fear and anxiety about what these changes will bring," he said. "We'll continue those conversations and try to address any concerns as they arise."

Jankov wants to see more collaboration, though, along with a task force to have a voice in how the outreach centre should run.  

Right now the city has approved a temporary zoning variance for a year, but she'd like to see the province present a long-term vision, she said.

"I think we're all excited to hear what that long-term vision is going to be for the residents of Charlottetown and, as importantly, for the folks who need this service as well."

The Outreach Centre is expected to open on Park Street around the end of March, Lantz said.