City of Terrace council members are satisfied the Ksan Society’s homeless shelter has moved out of the downtown core but are now worried about the effects it may have around its new location on Tetrault St. on the Southside.
The move from what was called Turning Points on the 4400 Block of Lakelse Ave. to the old Elks Hall which has been extensively renovated and now called Joe’s Place, happened quickly just over two weeks ago.
“It’s a pleasure to drive through the downtown and see that it’s relatively quiet,” councillor Dave Gordon told fellow council members April 11 during a discussion of the move.
“But I am worried about the transition of the problem to a less resilient neighbourhood than the downtown,” he added.
Although Turning Points had been operating as a homeless shelter since late 2016, it has only been in the last four years that it became a focal point for very visible drug use and other anti-social behaviour around its downtown location.
And that coincided with a general increase in street crime and other activity throughout the downtown core, resulting in growing calls for increased public safety measures.
Mayor Sean Bujtas, whose commute to work takes him through the downtown core, described the effect of the move as having turned off a light switch in comparing the amount of street activity before the move and after the move.
One council member directly affected by the move is Sarah Zimmerman who lives adjacent to the now former-shelter location.
“This morning I took my dog around the block for the first time in six years,” she said.
But she also wondered how, and if, Ksan told Southside residents about the move and then told them what might be expected following the move.
“One thing I would say is, I don’t know if there was fantastic communication with neighbours in my experience,” she said in suggesting the city step up its presence around the new shelter location.
The city’s social development coordinator, Linda Stevens, told council Ksan has been in contact with neighours surrounding its new Joe’s Place shelter location.
She said the city would now shift its security patrols, which had been mainly in the downtown core, to the area around the shelter.
“And not just in the daytime hours but after hours in that area to help support the community,” Stevens added.
Social media commentary has not welcomed the shelter move from downtown to the southside with many people expressing concerns about safety.
“The southside homeowners will now be beseiged with property damage, home invasions and discarded needles, theft and all sorts of property crimes,” stated one social media commenter.
Others, however, pointed out the lack of services for people with addictions or mental health problems.
The Ksan Society bought the Elks Hall on Tetrault St. across from the Mills Memorial Hospital property last year, then secured a series of government and other grants to renovate the facility for its new shelter location. Ksan asked for and was granted a letter of support from the city in its pursuit of grants. Southside residents, already worried about the effects they said on safety in the area from Ksan’s Hall Street shelter and housing complex two blocks away from the new shelter location, presented a 372-signature petition to city council protesting the Elks Hall conversion project last September.
But the city said it was powerless to act as the zoning in place at the Elks Hall location permitted activities such as shelters to be located there.
Ksan officials told council last year it would provide its own security at the new shelter location on Tetrault St. That function is being undertaken by Prince George-based Blue Hawk Security.
The Joe’s Place property is larger than the former Turning Points location, permitting Ksan to offer more amenities.
One of those is a courtyard complete with raised wooden platforms that is fenced off from public view and meant as a resting place. It is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the request that there be no music and no fires.