[Burnside/Gorge] Streetlink Ellice Street shelter | 5-storeys | Built - completed in 2010

Public Hearing
Rezoning of Ellice Park to Streetlink Shelter
Thursday July 24th
City Hall
7:30 pm

Each member of the public is allowed 10 minutes to speak.

You attendance is encouraged.

Well I left at 10:30. I'm sure it was going to go on another hour as there were still speakers up.
I heard Rob speak, so maybe he'll be there for the long haul?

The shelter Public Hearing ended around midnight. I left during the recess so didn't stick around for the Roundhouse PH. It passed with Young and Madoff voting against the rezoning.

The shelter Public Hearing ended around midnight. I left during the recess so didn't stick around for the Roundhouse PH. It passed with Young and Madoff voting against the rezoning.

Thanks for the update.

CHAMBER WELCOMES CONTENTIOUS DECISION ON ELLICE PARK

Jul 25, 2008

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HAS ISSUED A STATEMENT CONGRATULATING CITY COUNCIL FOR MAKING A TOUGH DECISION TO SACRIFICE A NEIGHBOURHOOD PARK...TO MAKE WAY FOR AN EMERGENCY HOMELESS SHELTER.

THE COUNCIL VOTE IN FAVOUR OF REZONING ELLICE PARK CAME AFTER A LENGTHY AND SOMETIMES EMOTIONAL PUBLIC HEARING LAST NIGHT.

THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT WILL PROVIDE FUNDING, AND COOL-AID WILL OPERATE THE SHELTER IN THE BURNSIDE-GORGE NEIGHBOURHOOD. THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SAYS IT'S "ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE IN DEALING WITH SOCIAL ISSUES ON CITY STREETS"..."EACH NEIGHBOURHOOD NEEDS TO EXPAND ITS SHARE OF HOUSING AND SERVICES PROVISIONS TO SATISFY THE NEEDS OF THE WHOLE COMMUNITY".

Speaking on my own behalf at last night's Council meeting regarding the park I said that the present park is unwelcoming, dysfunctional and little-used and that no amount of landscaping or installation of teeter-totters or social engineering is going to transform it and make it welcoming and beautiful. I said the Burnside-Gorge neighbourhood should look at this as an opportunity to obtain a better park; one that is not walled in on three sides and has visual interest and is safe and welcoming. And the City must honour its commitment to replace Ellice Park.

Enough of the NIMBYism on this one already. Just get on with it. Glad council voted to move it along.

And the City must honour its commitment to replace Ellice Park.

That's the piece I'm worried about.

Were you able to hear Mr. Jawl speak?

Do you think this trainwreck could have been avoided if the City had handled the process differently?

Enough of the NIMBYism on this one already. Just get on with it. Glad council voted to move it along.

Have you been involved in this?
I really didn't see this as a NIMBY driven issue.

I think it might have been avoided if the province had handled things a bit differently. I think the City had the choice between letting the opportunity slip by (again) and doing what they did.

I'm pretty certain Carolyn Heiman had nothing to do with the headline for her article, and that it was created by the Times-Colonist editors, but get a load of this:

Homeless shelter to replace Ellice Street parkland

Parkland??? Is the use of that word designed to inflame public opinion, or what?

Well I think it's descriptive. It's certainly not a functioning park, it's simply park-land.

No, it's not a functioning park, but "parkland" is a stretch. That conjures up acreages of trees and woodsy trails (at least for me) and makes this out to be much more than it is... Maybe it was some sort of slip or oversight, but I'm always suspicious of the editors over at the T-C... ;-)

No, it's not a functioning park, but "parkland" is a stretch. That conjures up acreages of trees and woodsy trails (at least for me) and makes this out to be much more than it is... Maybe it was some sort of slip or oversight, but I'm always suspicious of the editors over at the T-C... ;-)

I've never heard it referred as that ever, and I've been involved in this from the beginning.
I visualize the same thing:
http://www.yourdictionary.com/parkland

A future with a shelter
By Keith Vass - Victoria News

I was in the neighbourhood yesterday morning getting a flat tire fixed so spent a few minutes in Ellice Park. It seemed clean with virtually no camping detritus and no needles but putting the dismal maintenance issues aside, I tried evaluating it strictly on its design.

There's a feeling of vulnerability when you're in it, probably due to the downward slope of the site and the three big concrete walls enclosing you on all sides.

I think the only thing that could make this park successful would be to demolish the building hemming it in on the south so you could extend the park to the next street and you could use the park as a cut-through, creating pedestrian traffic. Townhouses or other "eyes on the street" could be built on the west portion facing the park.

Although it has what must be one of the City's last old-school merry-go-rounds so if you have kids you should bring them down and let them go nuts on it before they become extinct. I remember playing at one at Oaklands park in the 1970s but it was installed flush with the ground for extra danger. Great fun.

I was in the neighbourhood yesterday morning getting a flat tire fixed so spent a few minutes in Ellice Park. It seemed clean with virtually no camping detritus and no needles but putting the dismal maintenance issues aside, I tried evaluating it strictly on its design.

There's a feeling of vulnerability when you're in it, probably due to the downward slope of the site and the three big concrete walls enclosing you on all sides.

I think the only thing that could make this park successful would be to demolish the building hemming it in on the south so you could extend the park to the next street and you could use the park as a cut-through, creating pedestrian traffic. Townhouses or other "eyes on the street" could be built on the west portion facing the park.

Although it has what must be one of the City's last old-school merry-go-rounds so if you have kids you should bring them down and let them go nuts on it before they become extinct. I remember playing at one at Oaklands park in the 1970s but it was installed flush with the ground for extra danger. Great fun.

The last time I was down there earlier this week, it was clean as well.

I very much appreciate your insight.
In fact I believe there was a recommendation in the Parks Master Plan to expand Ellice Park!
It just seems to me that no matter what had been discussed, recommended, and documented was simply to be brushed under the carpet. I can only imagine some of the frustration amongst committee members who put their time and energy on to deaf ears.

I agree there is a lot of frustration on several fronts.

This is what I believe happened: The Province said to the City, "Fine, you want a homeless shelter--we'll build you one if you supply the land. But we won't do it if there's going to be years upon years of delay and Community squabbling about it. Take it or leave it".

I agree there is a lot of frustration on several fronts.

This is what I believe happened: The Province said to the City, "Fine, you want a homeless shelter--we'll build you one if you supply the land. But we won't do it if there's going to be years upon years of delay and Community squabbling about it. Take it or leave it".

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

Boy I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall in those in-camera council meetings.

Didn't the Province make such a statement to Saanich's mayor and council?

Saanich councillors were quibbling about the homelessness issue and eventually made a statement claiming that if funding was made available Saanich would build a shelter. So the Province delivered, saying they'd fund the shelter if Saanich provided land, but once the news broke Saanich walked away from the table and there hasn't been a peep on the subject since.