NEIGHBOURS SAY CHURCH PROGRAMS ATTRACTING DRUG ACTIVITY

Some residents living along 10th Avenue between Ontario and Manitoba
streets say that a church's weekly meal services for poor people are
attracting drug addicts and dealers to their streets.

Michelle Mills, Marilyn Bell and John Davis said they've recently
witnessed drug deals and drug use outside the 10th Avenue Alliance
Church at 11 West 10th Ave.

They've also heard stories from neighbours of break-ins, theft and vandalism.

The activity, they believe, is connected to the church's "Out of the
Cold" program that runs Monday nights and the "Oasis" drop-in program
that runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Both programs offer meals for more than 70 poor people each day.

"This is not neighbours against the church and the homeless," said
Bell, who has rented the top floor of a heritage house in the
neighbourhood for 14 years. "It's neighbours against anything that
destroys our livability as a neighbourhood."

Bell said the tipping point for her came last month after returning
home from vacation. In front of her house at about 6 p.m., a woman
with surgical tubing wrapped around one arm and holding the other end
with her teeth, was jabbing a syringe into her arm.

"I was shocked, nervous and didn't say anything to her because I
didn't know what she would do," said Bell, noting that she's found
spent syringes in the streets. "This is not acceptable in our neighbourhood."

What irks the trio of neighbours even more is they believe the church
is operating the meal programs without a city permit. And according
to Bob Adair, a city development planner, the neighbours are correct.

The city discovered last fall the church didn't have a development
permit for what Adair defines as social centre use. With no
complaints on file at the time, the city didn't see a need to shut
down the meal services.

"I wouldn't say it's terribly unusual for some churches to be running
these programs without realizing that they need permits for them," he
said. "We didn't say we would shut them down in the interim because
our information at the time was that they didn't seem to be a problem
in the neighbourhood. So we figured it was reasonable to let them
keep operating while they actually applied for the permit."

Neighbours said they didn't complain in the past because it was only
recently that they noticed the drug activity outside their doors.
They believe it's because construction to an addition to the church
has forced the line-up for meals from an alley behind the church to
10th Avenue.

Mills, whose apartment overlooks 10th Avenue, said she regularly sees
cars pulling up to the curb outside the church. People sleeping
overnight at the church's covered front doors then run up to the cars
to make an exchange.

"It's drug dealing," said Mills, a former volunteer with the WISH
centre in the Downtown Eastside, where many of the sex trade workers
are addicts. "What really got me one morning was one guy sleeping
outside the church got up and poured out a full bottle of urine on
the front steps."

What infuriates Davis, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 33
years, is the fact the city is allowing the church to continue its
meal services without a permit. He is quick to point out that his
anger shouldn't be misconstrued as opposing meals for the homeless.

"If I wanted to build a set of stairs without a permit, the city
would put a stop order on that right away," said Davis, who has
renovated 10 heritage homes in the neighbourhood.

Linda Gotts, pastor of missions and outreach for the church, said she
is aware of neighbours' concerns but she pointed out Mills, Bell and
Davis don't represent all views of residents.

Although Gotts said some of the people attending the meal services
are addicts, she has not witnessed any illegal activity. Still, she
now has staff in reflective vests monitor the line-ups.

"We have neighbours that like the programs so much that we have
neighbours from the condo complex across the way from our back
parking lot who come and volunteer," said Gotts, adding that a
neighbour who is a drug and alcohol counsellor supports the programs.
"She would hate to see the programs no longer offered in the neighbourhood."

Even so, Gotts wants to hear all neighbours' views about the church's
programs. To do so, the church is hosting a public meeting June 6 at
7:30 p.m. Police and a city representative will attend.

"The last thing we want to do is antagonize the neighbours around the
church-that's not our goal. So anything we can do to be more
proactive, we're willing to make changes."

As for offering the meal services without a permit, Gotts, who has
worked for the church for five months, wasn't clear why the church
didn't have a permit. She added the city has allowed the programs to
continue while the city processes the church's development permit.

Vancouver police Insp. Axel Hovbrender, who is the commander in
charge of the area, said crime has not increased in the neighbourhood
and there appears to be some miscommunication between the church and
neighbours.

"Our responsibility is to find out exactly what is going on and
separate the wheat from the chaff," said Hovbrender, noting homeless
people sleeping along the Broadway corridor is nothing out of the
ordinary. "However, I'm sure from their perspective they believe that
it's increased as a result of some of this activity at the church."