COUNCIL WRONG TO PUT OFF APPROVAL

If only two property owners express opposition at a public hearing on a
zoning change, it would seem apparent the neighbourhood is basically
content with the project being proposed.

It's strange then that city council would feel that there had not been
enough opportunity for public input on the zoning change to allow an
emergency shelter for women downtown.

Notices of the public hearing were hand-delivered to immediate neighbours,
advertisements were put in the newspaper and a four foot by six foot sign
has been in front of the proposed property for months. Yet, council put off
for one week the decision on the zoning change to allow for more public
consultation.

Kiwanis House, with support from the city social planning council and the
committee on homelessness, is eligible for $250,000 in funding from the
federal government to buy and renovate a house at 467 St. Paul St. The home
will be used as an emergency shelter for women. Another $150,000 is
available for staffing.

Kiwanis House is an addiction treatment facility that has more than proved
itself as a responsible and worthwhile citizen in Kamloops. The house on
Columbia Street is primarily for men with substance abuse problems. It's
run with compassion, but with strict rules for its residents.

There is no reason to think the same requirements for safety, the law and
respect for neighbours won't be in place at the emergency shelter proposed
for women.

Neighbours are worried the shelter will attract drug dealers and pimps who
will prey on the women seeking refuge at the home. It's far more likely
drug dealers and pimps will stay in the area as it currently exists. Sex
trade workers haunt the corners all over the neighbourhood.

This shelter is a progressive step in offering these women a chance to turn
their lives around. Shelter staff will be trained to direct the residents
into programs that may result in getting them off drugs and off the streets
where they ply their trade to get money for their addiction.

People associated with criminal activities are far less likely to hang
around a shelter that is operated by people with no tolerance for their
behaviour. Shelter staff won't hesitate to bring in the police to protect
their residents. Pimps and drug dealers know it. As Sgt. Randy Brown noted,
police rarely get called to the other women's shelter in town.

It's understandable that neighbours, although most are at least two blocks
away, are worried about increased crime rate in their area. However, this
shelter is much more likely to help bring the crime rate down than it is to
increase it.

The federal government is prepared to give Kiwanis House $400,000 because
it was so impressed with the planning undertaken by the local committee on
homelessness. To jeopardize that money in any way is foolish.

City council should not hesitate in approving the rezoning at 467 St. Paul
St. when the issue comes before councillors again next Tuesday.