LDA20-0199 Terrace Heights Rezoning (A portion of 6503 101 Avenue NW)

In July 2020, City Council passed a motion concerning turning Edmonton into the safest city in Canada. How can Edmonton possibly turn into a safe city if children, seniors and the general population in the Capilano area are concerned for their personal safety every time they go to the playground, library or grocery store, knowing drug addicts and criminals are in the area? Taxpayer and Voter

I am supportive of this proposal. Edmonton needs more supportive housing to help its vulnerable citizens. The need exists across the city so I am glad that one is proposed for this inner southeast area where I have lived for over 20 years. In this location, future residents would be a short walk from shops and services at Capilano Mall and from the Capilano Library, and would have access to good bus routes.

Oh good lord, stop. I do not agree with adding yet another multi-unit building to my neighborhood. There are already far too many apartment buildings, townhouses, duplexes, etc. in the Southeast Edmonton area. The population density is not well supported with services (city services and businesses). Holyrood/Bonnie Doon is still in constant disarray with the LRT. 50th st, 75th st, and 98/101 ave are all highly trafficked, noisy, and dangerous. Crime has gone up significantly in just the past year - I even called in a homeless person who had been exposing himself at the daycare window and luckily the police managed to get there in time to arrest him.

The city finally improved that one small section with a new library and the skate park. And now you want to add Supportive Housing smack-dab beside a new cannabis store and opposite a liquor store? This doesn't even pass the giggle test. Enough is enough. Stop now. Do not ask us to keep dealing with incompetent decisions. Do not make one more change to our neighborhood.

My family have been longtime residents(10+ years) of Terrace Heights. I agree and concur with many of the concerns already placed regarding the safety impact of this project to the neighbourhood and we do not support this rezoning. I am quite disturbed around the choosing of this space in Terrace Heights. Relative to surrounding neighbourhoods that have mainly single family homes, Terrace Heights already has the only high-rise rental towers(2) and a number of low-rise rental buildings especially around 101 Avenue along with a number of duplex rental properties that many would consider low income. It would appear that we are now adding more units in what is already a crowded space. In addition, there has been great work to develop this greenspace with the library, skatepark to start to make it a place for many families/kids to gather. This project/rezoning is going in a different and wrong direction and I do not envision going or taking my family to this area should this go through.

I am also very disappointed in the effort that is being placed to push this through onto residents. Terrace Heights neighbourhood is already divided by 101 Avenue which the city continues to leave as a 4-5 lane road which is used by many commuters to short-cut through to Capilano or baseline road. Quite frankly, I am always nervous when I have to cross this road in my own neighbourhood as a pedestrian. There was an effort to revitalize this stretch of neighbourhood that I would have also hoped to make it more pedestrian-user friendly, improve the streets cape, reduce vehicular traffic(there needs to be a double red turning light going north at Wayne Gretzky and 75th just like at the intersection of 98th Avenue) and really improve the quality of life for the residents Many hours were spent by community members for this planning, yet nothing really of substance or change came out of it and I am pretty confident nothing will in the future. Instead, I see the full force of the mayor,council and city administration/departments trying to push this project onto the neighbourhood. It is very discouraging and another sign of your(Mayor, council) lack of care to the impacted residents in order to fulfill your ambitions.

You know what would have been nice for a change given their stated importance for it, members of city council volunteering their own neighbourhood to house one of these projects to start off the project to end homelessness. It would help to show you are in it together with your fellow citizens, though as you know, it is much easier when you are not the ones being negatively impacted. I would also like to acknowledge that someone named ‘GG” has the only positive comment that can be seen on the Terrace Height page. Surprisingly (or not surprisingly), this person has placed a positive comment on each of the four developments. Unless this person lives in each of the four affected neighbourhoods which I highly doubt, their comments should be disregarded as it appears they are pushing a certain agenda. If they are so positive, they should volunteer to house all 4 sites next door to them.

I also want to make a comment on the notification of this project. I just received a leaflet(not the first one) in the mail from Epcor regarding changes at the Goldbar Wastewater Treatment plant and an open house they are holding, though I do not even live in that neighbourhood. I have yet to receive anything in the mail regarding this supportive housing initiative yet I am being told how very important it is. Please do not make the assumption that everyone uses twitter/facebook or goes online to get all of their information. This whole proposed project from the start has the appearance that you are trying to not notify the affected residents. A good start would be treating the affected residents with respect and perhaps they will start to give some back to you.

"Building security is lacking. Criminal activity is common in the multi unit buildings.
Maintaining public image is the organization's (Homeward Trust) priority.
It keeps the funding money rolling in."
This is a quote written by a former Maintenance Technician of Homeward Trust on May 24,2019, concerning an employee review on https://ca.indeed.com/cmp/Homeward-Trust-Edmonton/reviews.
The supportive housing group which includes Homeward Trust, have been trying to down play any fears that the people in the Capilano area have concerning an increase in drug and criminal activity.
The above stated quote is quite disturbing because it lays bare the truth that the supportive housing group has grossly down played the danger to children, seniors and the general population concerning the consequences of bringing supportive housing to the Capilano area. Taxpayer and Voter

I am very concerned about the proposed Supportive Housing planned in Terrace Heights. I am a resident of Terrace Heights and have lived in SE central Edmonton for 45 years.

Two points of concern are:
1) Is this a good location for residents with mental health issues? I understand plan is to build right across the street from a fire hall. The Intermittent and/or constant noise of lights and sirens would be disturbing to most people, even more to people with anxiety/depression/substance abuse.

2) I am very concerned that Homeward Trust is not the best organization for property ownership, managing the property and residents. I did a internet search on reviews of Homeward Trust. Seems there are issues with high staff turnover and management capacity/nepotism. This is my biggest concern. What is the plan if Homeward Trust is not able to manage? What is the plan if the Good Neighbor plan with Homeward Trust does not address community concerns? Police are overwhelmed with current level of violent and property crime. I had a neighbor who recently filed theft and forgery complaint with the police/went no where. They don’t have time to investigate and place charges for minor theft/violent crime now, how would community deal with these issues if community plan is with a organization with lacks leadership and management capacity?

Thank you very much for hearing my concerns with the proposed location and management of supportive housing Plan in Terrace Heights,

The Capilano area is not a supportive community of supportive housing. I have not talked to one person that wants supportive housing in this area. Drug addicts and criminals will never be welcomed in the Capilano area. There are a large number of seniors in the Capilano area that are very concerned about their physical and psychological safety, concerning supportive housing coming to this area. I have been involved in two supportive housing round table meetings and when I talked about my own physical and psychological safety concerns as a senior, the supportive housing team down played , ignored and one person even started to giggle about them. I have complained to supportive housing about this matter. As a senior ,I do not appreciate this type of condescending elder abuse, when I'm taking my time to give my input concerning supportive housing. Angry and Upset, Senior, Taxpayer and Voter

I am not necessarily opposed to supportive housing but the location choice seems strange to me. Why put it near three major places frequented by kids including the library, skate park and a daycare. Crime in the area has been rising lately to the point we have considered moving out of the neighbourhood. What supports will be there to prevent crime, and ensure these individuals living there have everything they need to find success?

I' m more convinced than ever that City Council does not realize how angry and upset the people in the Capilano area are concerning having supportive housing possibly put in their community without City Council being given a mandate to do so, by the electorate.
During the last municipal election in 2017, neither the Mayor nor City Councillors asked the electorate for a mandate to put hundreds of supportive housing units in existing neighbourhoods around Edmonton.
If City Council wants to make such a dramatic social change to existing neighourhoods around Edmonton, it should first get a mandate to do so in the next municipal election.

Angry and Upset, Taxpayer and Voter

Hi,

Me and my family have just bought a house in the area. Coming from St.Albert we never knew what the city had to offer until we moved here and have been really enjoying it. We picked this area because it was safe and a secure neighbourhood. It was not the cheapest area but we’ve worked hard and put a lot of our savings in to be able to purchase a house here.

I have many concerns about this low income housing project. I think we can all agree that many homeless people suffer from addiction or mental illness. This makes normally good people unpredictable and at time dangerous. We have a daughter that will be starting school and I can say I would not be safe with people like that in the area. Again I think we can all agree that the issue of homelessness needs to be addressed. But putting these projects in areas like this is not the answer. If this goes ahead we will be forced to move. Lose money on our house and most of our savings to to ensure our family safety.

Thanks you.

This is only going to increase the crime rate in our neighbourhood. There is an existing area just off Canada Place downtown where there is mush of the infrastructure related to this and it would be better to build this there. All of the support this would need is already surrounding it. In this location, it will increase the transiency, expose our neighbourhood and our children to harm, and make our area less desirable to live in. I am against it.

Please put this in your neighbourhood, not mine.

There are already a few community project type facilities in very close proximity to the proposed location. Terrace Heights is a small community and has seen a considerable increase in crime and vagrants in the past few years. Adding a this type of a facility would not do well for Terrace Heights and the surrounding communities. Since there is a drug rehabilitation center already there why add more? Why not spread these types of facilities across the city rather than have them concentrated in a few areas. If it is good for Terrace Heights, like your commercial says, then it should be good for Rutherford, University area, or Mill Woods. Perhaps moving these people as far away from downtown as possible is better for them, wouldn't proximity to downtown allow there friends and other homeless people to congregate easier than a community with less or more difficult access?
I think the people or departments who are trying to have this facility approved in Terrace Heights are not doing their due diligence and ignoring the needs of the effected community(s).

I highly support this rezoning and the supportive housing concept to go with it. The proposed height and RA8 zoning aligns well with existing developments in the area, and its prominent location on a major corridor. The reduction of park space is well justified based on the socially critical nature of this supportive housing project. This project, along with the services it will incorporate, will make a huge difference for some of our most vulnerable residents. Frankly, the City needs many, many more of these projects in addition to this one. The City should be commended for the work that has gone into the Good Neighbour Plans for these proposed projects, and have clearly anticipated (and planned to mitigate) resident questions and concerns through this process.

Terrace Heights and Forest Heights haves been subject of many break-ins due to low income housing in the area already. This area has had enough crime already and inviting Homeward Trust to build more of this type of housing is disrespectful to current owners and tax payers. Our taxes go to towards funding of homelessness and this seems to be a disregard for our needs. Here is a link of another low income housing project in our area where the owner or the one responsible for using funding she sourced from government agencies to provide housing for those in need did not care and skirted the rules. Now she herself lived in the affluent part of Riverbend - now why didnt she put these folks in need in Riverbend??? . There was nothing that our community League could do to shut them down even though they had numerous fire code violations. The residents were cooking Meth and selling -https://globalnews.ca/news/3555351/early-morning-fire-in-east-edmonton/ and also this link https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fire-edmonton-apartment-emergency-evacuation-1.4177818 When this porperty known as 'pink palace' and to us locals and EPS went up in flames, we were relieved. It was the source of rampant drug activity and numeorus breaks in with theft. I have been a victim of theft and it cost me $10,000 in irreplaceable losses - the police have never investigated and never followed up with me about my file. Almost everyone on our street has had their car broken into it. As recent as 2 days ago I spoke to a neighbour on 71st and 101 ave that had her car broken into. Even though Pink Palace is gone, There is already low income rental apartments and subsidized houses in our area - some of these individuals are already living in the apartments at the top of 71st and 101 ave and Edmonton police has a nice little history of this area. Bikes are stolen on a daily basis in Forest _ Terrace Heights area and we are close to trails and those that participate in illegal use these trails to evade authorities and make quick exits. For city council to disregard our concerns shows the inherent disrespect for hardworking citizens who pay taxes and also the wages of those who make decisions that end up causing us distress and grief. Additionally now our services are reduced due to COVID but are taxes have not and now you want us to put up with this? and for those of you who think it is not okay to speak against this project - how dare you? Why don't you put it in your area if you feel it is for a good cause and you feel that strongly about it or better yet , pay for my home security and video surveillance system that I now have due to the break-in? Terrace Heights has done its fair share of good deeds and has been doing it for years. EPS does not have the time or money to help keep us safe.Their response times on break ins are atrocious and they will tell us it is a low priority call. I don't feel safe with this kind of housing facility in my area and don't want it here. I understand they will have an on site care and Homeward trust will outsource the housing to a third party - therein lies the problem. What will be the requirements of that operator? how will they mitigate drugs on site? how will they mitigate issues with sellers and buyers coming to their site? Where can I get the contact details of that operator? Drug addicts / substance abusers ( amongst others) are usually the ones who need this kind of housing and they often don't quite clean up their acts. By all means put this building elsewhere - just NOT here. I have an idea - put it in Don Iveson's neighbourhood!

Council needs to know the following:
- I don't want this because I don't feel safe - we already have a lot of issues with low income housing and apartments that we already have ( Check with EPS) - we have done our part
- Council needs to look at the crime report of this area and take that into account - we have a high crime here - I do not feel safe already. Putting more of this does not help and if you tell me it does not increase crime then you should be happy to put it in your own area. Chose another area.
- this kind of housing brings in the kind of people who have had issues with drug use (predominantly) and do not value hard work and private property and are not there to be part of community but rather to steal and damage property. Having previous drug users etc will attract those whole sell drugs as chances are that not all of them will remain sober or clean from drugs and substance abuse and most remain in their social circle.
- We also have break-ins on a daily basis - ( you can check with our community leagues or forest terrace heights facebook page where all this is posted all the time!)
- I don't want more people trolling my back alley daily at 3 am ( I have footage to prove)
- The LRT that council had to waste money on does not go through our area - put it along that rail line!!!
- Build a high end condo instead

While the iniative to end homelessness is great- I am disheartened to know that if this supportive housing is approved, it might have adverse effects for the community, especially one to raise a family in, having a daughter of my own. I fear that if anything were to arise from someone's living situation at the supportive housing unit - drug/alcohol abuse or other, there could be a negative impact on the community in terms of safety. Of course, this is without knowing exactly who will be living in these units, if it were approved As well, with the 101 redevelopment, I was looking forward Terrace Heights transforming into a vibrant, lively place and in all honesty, the inclusion of supportive housing doesn't add to this vision. Lastly, having moved into this neighborhood 4 years ago, I liked the potential of this environment being great for children to thrive in - especially with facilities like the library and skatepark, but I worry that with supportive housing so close to these facilities, it will change the environment negatively.