By Patrick Book

Regina Council approves low-rent “pocket suites” despite disapproval of neighbours

Jan 24, 2011 | 9:42 PM

Residents of the area just east of the Regina's downtown say their neighbourhood will be literally destroyed now that City Council has approved a small, low-rent, charity-run apartment development.

Council gave their stamp of approval to Ehrlo Community Service's plan to build an eight-unit, two-floor group of “pocket suites” aimed at young singles moving from foster homes, group homes, or other transitional types of housing. The concept was taken from an award-winning Winnipeg development, which spear-headed the roughly 200-square foot, self-contained style of apartment in inner-city areas.

Lorna Evans, a Heritage area resident, appeared before Council Monday night to ask for the application to be denied. She insists the neighbourhood is already over-saturated with transitional and social housing programs and she's worried it's driving away people who might look at living there.

“We are a super-saturated neighbourhood with these types of projects and outreach programs,” she emphatically told reporters after the approval was granted. “We can't sustain more and keep our neighbourhood viable for people wanting to move in.”

“It will lead to the destruction of our neighbourhood,” she continued. “The way it is now we're a blend of seniors and little children and all walks of life and we want to maintain that.”

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Evans presented Council with a petition containing about 20 signatures of nearby residents who also oppose the development. The majority of the signatories are residents of a nearby senior citizen's complex.

She adds similar developments in Winnipeg are fire hazards that attract crime, their property often strewn with trash. She's also concerned that the building's exterior won't “match” the existing homes in the area.

“They aren't even going to match. It's really going to pull down the neighbourhood.”

Ehrlo Community Services' Malcolm Neill insists the low-rent suites will not constitute a group home. Instead, they'll fill a much-needed and dwindling niche in the city's rental market by giving people safe, secure housing at a low cost.

“I think it's important to listen to all the concerns of your neighbours,” he said cautiously. “I'm confident that over time this development will prove to be a vibrant part of the community with few negatives.” He also contends that Ehrlo's numerous other housing developments in other areas of the city are examples of how beneficial to the city such projects can be.

Several Council members lauded Ehrlo for their work, both in the Community Services division and the Ranch Ehrlo program, which operates numerous group homes in all parts of Regina. Mayor Pat Fiacco admits that the “not in my back yard” mentality always seems to pop up when in-fill housing projects are considered.

“In my ten years as mayor I can't think of one development we had opposition to that was approved and after it built it was all the bad things that those individuals that came forward thought it was going to be.” He also noted that Evans' assertion that the building will promote crime conflicts with the accepted wisdom that having more people in a neighbourhood will drive down crime.

The city's Planning Commission heard similar complaints back in December relating to a Coronation Park development. At the time, area residents made similar claims that too many social and transitional housing programs were being jammed into their neighbourhood while other areas of the city have none. City staff, however, noted then that the desirable Cathedral area actually has the highest concentration of social housing in the entire city.

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