427 replies to this topic

[pennymurphy2000]

I am sure they will. CMHC highlights that facility in their report for hard to house seniors. This proposal follows none of the suggestions from the report by the way.

 

The report recommends the following.

 

The site should be out of the downtown core.

It should be on a major bus route.

It should be a purpose built facility.

No larger than 32 units.

The units should have full kitchens and bathrooms.

The building should be fully accessibly for those with disabilities.

The residents preferred a smaller facility as it was easier to make connections with people.

[A Girl is No one]

50+...

New article on TC re: latest proposal: http://www.timescolo...owed-1.21366041

Bullocks!!! Either the mayor lies or she is a complete idiot.

"
Mayor Lisa Helps believes the proposal is a good fit for the neighbourhood.

“It’s very similar to what was there before the seniors residence closed down,” she said.

“And the most exciting part of the proposal is that the third floor will be a mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments,” because it means the building will be able to accommodate older couples, she said.

“The biggest challenge that all of the people living in the building will be facing is poverty,” Helps said."

50+ is hardly the bedridden palliative crowd that used to be there. Cool-Aid is not in the business of looking after poor people. Those just need rent subsidies or social housing. No profits there for Coolaid. No. Cool-Aid helps the hard to house. Anti-social and erratic violent people who cannot live alone, have their own shower or cook for themselves. And their low staffing levels guarantee that they will not monitor anything. Finally, the appartements are mostly bachelor suite, not much better than the bed-sit SRO rooms downstairs si the population won't be much different.

This is a campaign by Cool-Aid and city hall to paint the neighbours as intolerant. Unreal!!!

[pennymurphy2000]

Work is presently being done at MEC on the 3rd floor. A permit was pulled mid August. Guess they are removing the asbestos from the 3rd floor. 

[Bingo]

Work is presently being done at MEC on the 3rd floor. A permit was pulled mid August. Guess they are removing the asbestos from the 3rd floor. 

 

Not at Mountain Equipment Co-op though.

[pennymurphy2000]

Mount Edwards Court. Sorry. I forgot. 

[A Girl is No one]

City and Coolaid are already back into lying to the neighbours (actually they never stopped). Police Is still in cover up mode so nothing that happens in Mt Edwards is made public. They even deny things that are known to be true. Sick. What does that say about the future relationship they intend to have with the neighbours?

[tedward]

City and Coolaid are already back into lying to the neighbours (actually they never stopped). Police Is still in cover up mode so nothing that happens in Mt Edwards is made public. They even deny things that are known to be true. Sick. What does that say about the future relationship they intend to have with the neighbours?

 

So, do you have any sort of reliable statistics to back up your accusation? Not the NIMBY anecdotes that have dominated this conversation, but actual records of complaints in the area? 

I keep hearing how the neighbourhood is a desolate hellscape where children are afraid to go to school. If that is true then someone needs to provide actual evidence. On the surface the area looks clean and orderly as any other part of Fairfield. 

[Rob Randall]

I go by there all the time and seldom see any evidence of human habitation, let alone disorder.

[tjv]

Work is presently being done at MEC on the 3rd floor. A permit was pulled mid August. Guess they are removing the asbestos from the 3rd floor. 

you win the door prize

[Kapten Kapsell]

Was this approved at Council tonight?

[Bingo]

Was this approved at Council tonight?

 

Approved 6 to 1

http://www.timescolo...plan-1.23064549

[pennymurphy2000]

So, do you have any sort of reliable statistics to back up your accusation? Not the NIMBY anecdotes that have dominated this conversation, but actual records of complaints in the area? 

I keep hearing how the neighbourhood is a desolate hellscape where children are afraid to go to school. If that is true then someone needs to provide actual evidence. On the surface the area looks clean and orderly as any other part of Fairfield. 

No one has ever said it is a desolate hell scape. Most of the time, things are fine, except for the times when it isn't and then it is horrendous.

 

Before Tent City and Cool Aid moved in, we had zero of those times.  Ask any cop and they will tell you that stats don't always reflect the true impact on a neighbourhood. People grow weary and they don't phone 911. Apathy around this city is brutal. How many times have you walked by someone in need of help due to a mental health issue? Did you stop and phone 911? Most don't.  

 

The onus is not on us to prove to you what we have lived through. Go talk to a direct neighbours of Mt. Edwards Court. The ones that have had absolutely everything stolen from their yard that wasn't nailed down. The ones that have stacks of police reports. They have been directly impacted but to you walking by, you would see nothing. It is ignorant to assume that because you walk by once a day and there was no issue that that means nothing bad ever happens at the other times.

 

The original proposal for Mt. Edwards was for a 100 person low barrier shelter. Who in their right mind thinks that is a good idea? It is way to close to this school or any other school. That is why we fought so hard against this project. It was Cool Aid and BC Housing that kept pushing the issue. At any time they could have simply switched to a low income seniors facility, for which there is also a huge housing shortage. This could have been solved 2 years ago and we could have properly housed over 100 seniors in desperate need of housing. But the poverty industry in this city is big business and there is lots of money to be made off of vulnerable people. 

 

Mt. Edwards in its most recent use was a nursing home. The rooms are smaller and don't have showers/tubs or cooking facilities of any kind. So it is best suited for college dorms or a nursing home. People who are trying to work on recovery deserve their own full apartment, not an SRO. 

 

The purpose built Cool Aid facilities are hugely successful. The Cool Aid facilities that they try and repurpose are less successful. Queens Manor is a disaster. Cool Aid has no experience running a facility this large. 

 

The larger issue for the neighbours and the school is that Cool Aid has zero credibility left. 

 

Can this facility be run in such a way that there is no impact to the school and surrounding neighbourhood? I don't know. Time will tell.

 

But I will tell you that the past 19 months with 38 residents has been far from perfect. 

[Mike K.]

How has the market seen these changes? Have home prices in the area been affected?

[tjv]

^^don't get me wrong, if a housing facility loaded with homeless was going to be built anywhere near my house I would come out swinging so I sympathetize with your problem

 

as a taxpayer, I don't believe in providing more than the bare minimum.  Should these residents have in suite kitchens?  Hell no.  do they need in suite showers?  hell no, they can head down the hall to common showers, etc. 

 

If taxpayers are legally required to provide shelter, fine.  Here is a room 6x6, single bed with a door and window.  Showers and cooking facilities are down the hall.  Oh you want more?  just head out that door there and talk to that tree, they will listen to your complaints

 

Has the neighborhood launched a lawsuit with everyone listing their issues, items stolen, property values plummeting, etc?

[JasTou]

looks like BC Housing did not obtain the proper permit for the renovations started at Mt Edwards

 

https://www.timescol...offs-1.23917477

[pennymurphy2000]

They "forgot" did they? Pretty convenient that they seem to remember the heritage designation so they can get away with not brining the building up to code in regards to handicap accessibilities or earthquake standards. 

[Rob Randall]

Considering how many people have to sign off on these things, the quotes, the custom design and manufacturing, installation, payment, yes, it is suspicious.

[aastra]

The politics of supposed "heritage preservation" in the CoV are a total fraud. I'm beyond sick of the double-standards and the rationalizations and the excuses and the lip service and the expediency, time after time after time. In communities where heritage and historic built form are actually valued, it doesn't matter WHO wants to tear something down or remodel or whatever. There are legitimate principles underlying the heritage preservation mission. Why do Victorians have no grasp of this?

 

If a private developer had wanted to rip out the JSB it would have been depicted as a crime against humanity. If the CoV wants to rip out the JSB then it's all good. How can this be, if we're talking about the same ****ing heritage asset in both instances?

 

Meanwhile, everybody was willing to play hardball with Rogers' Chocolates about their cabinets. Hardball in one case, but a pat on the head and "Shucks, these things happen," in another case.

 

Anyway, file this as example #1001 of how doing something wrong can be fine if the right people are doing it.

 

 

City staff didn’t pull any punches... (aastra: right, I'm sure BC Housing was withering against their harsh words.)

 

...the vinyl windows "undermine the integrity of the historic building and give it a more superficial appearance." (aastra says: but otherwise, no big whoop. Heritage preservation isn't about the small details.)

 

Council, however, was caught in a bind. The damage was already done by the time the city found out about it... (aastra says: so unfortunate, that the damage was already done.)

 

...councillors were reluctant to ask B.C. Housing — a key partner in providing affordable housing — to displace vulnerable tenants and spend even more money to replace the vinyl windows... (aastra says: Heaven forbid that the authorities should ever inconvenience people and/or spend more public money.)

 

Instead, they approved the work retroactively and directed Mayor Lisa Helps to send a letter to B.C. Housing expressing the city’s displeasure. (aastra says: right, I'm sure BC Housing was withering against her harsh words.)

 

"All of us know that if this were not B.C. Housing and [they] were not providing housing for vulnerable people, we would not let this go forward." (aastra says: 'nuff said.)

Coun. Ben Isitt proposed having B.C. Housing make a donation to a city heritage fund as a form of deterrent to prevent future mistakes. (aastra says: sigh.)

from Times-Colonist article "On 1911 building, original windows mistakenly replaced with vinyl knock-offs"

 

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Edited by aastra, 16 August 2019 - 11:44 AM.

[aastra]

Seriously, try to reconcile this BS with the Mt. St. Angela redevelopment controversies. The politics of heritage preservation in Victoria are an absolute and total fraud.

[tedward]

Oh come on. WTF are vinyl windows on a large building an issue? Seems to me modern, energy efficient windows are more important than some barely visible aesthetic difference on the THIRD FLOOR. Did anyone actually notice or care?