CHINATOWN GROUP SUING CITY FOR DISREGARDING ZONING BYLAW FOR DRUG DROP-IN
CENTER

A coalition of five Chinatown groups will be in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday
hoping to close down a controversial drop-in centre for drug addicts in the
Downtown Eastside.

The Community Alliance is suing the city for allowing The Health Contact
Centre to open in an area near Main and Hastings, where they say zoning
allows only for retail businesses.

"Every day dozens of drug users and dealers congregate near the public
washroom at Main and Hastings in front of the Carnegie [Centre]," says an
excerpt from the Alliance's petition.

"Their presence discourages others coming to nearby businesses in Chinatown
and has reduced the sense of public safety for people who live and work in
the area."

However, lawyer John Richardson, acting on behalf of the Vancouver Area
Network of Drug Users, told the Courier that both the city's development
permit board and the joint city-provincial government Board of Variance
approved the opening of the Contact Centre in December.

Despite zoning restrictions, Richardson said the development permit board
has the power to change zoning when it finds there is "undue hardship" in
the area-he said the Contact Centre's purpose is to cater to that hardship.

The Contact Centre, on the ground floor of the Roosevelt Hotel at 166 East
Hastings, was closed in early February for renovations, and also shortly
after a stabbing there, and is expected to open at the end of the week.