City councillors assess homeless hub locations in core area

Councillors who represent downtown London and the Old East Village are at the epicentre of the local homelessness crisis.

But David Ferreira (Ward 13) and Susan Stevenson (Ward 4) have different takes about the Hubs Implementation Plan that sets out the location, building, and operational criteria for new low barrier hubs that would serve Londoners living unsheltered.

The hubs are part of the estimated $247.5 million Whole of Community Response to Homelessness (up to 15 hubs, 600 supportive housing units).

“Quite frankly, I’m a bit insulted by the lack of detail,” Councillor Stevenson told CTV News.

Stevenson suggested terms like “near” and “close proximity” be clearly defined before council is asked to choose locations for three to five hubs this September.

“A lot of the words don’t have specific meaning, so they’re open to interpretation,” she added. “Where is that going to leave [council] when we’re trying to argue about it after the fact?”

The report recommends that hubs be “near” arterial roads and transit routes.

And they should not be located in “close proximity” to elementary schools, splash pads/wading pools, or the interior of residential neighbourhoods.

As well, a service hub should not be “directly adjacent” to licensed childcares or city parks.

The urgency to open the first three to five service hubs before the end of this year (90 to 150 new beds) requires them to be located within existing buildings with Emergency Care Establishment zoning.

London has 72 property zoning categories that permit the use of Emergency Care Establishments.

“We want to cast as wide of a net as possible in terms of aligning ourselves with pre-existing zoning,” explained Deputy City Manager of Social and Health Development Kevin Dickins.

Dickins said the process might get to the level of specificity that includes specific setback distances, but not now.

“At this point we are trying to identify as many properties as possible that align with the inclusion and exclusion criteria,” he added.

Downtown Councillor David Ferreira worries if the criteria are too specific and overly restrictive— it could result in few or no locations qualifying.

He believes the recommended criteria gives council flexibility when specific locations come forward for consideration.

“When it comes down to the very specific details of the location itself, and the placement of that, that would come to council direction and we can have discussion,” he said.

The time for Londoners to share their thoughts about the criteria is limited.

Councillors will consider the hub plan during a special committee meeting on Monday, July 24, at 4 p.m. at city hall.

Less than a day later, on Tuesday a 1 p.m., a final decision will be made at the regularly scheduled council meeting.

“It’s been eight months they’ve been working on this, and now all of a sudden there’s no time,” Stevenson asserted.

She has pressed for politicians to be involved in the process much earlier— but City Manager Lynne Livingstone said a power differential exists between councillors and frontline agencies that could jeopardize the tenuous community-wide collaboration.

“Not a lot of time to talk with the public about it and I think that the public rightfully holds us to account in terms of how we’re going to spend money,” said Stevenson.

Ferreira said a lot of public input received during recent community engagement sessions was incorporated in the criteria for hubs— but he welcomes more feedback.

“Reach out, because [councillors] are looking at our emails and we are looking for as much communication as possible,” he said.

Each hub will offer 25 to 35 beds, within about 8,000 to 10,0000 square feet of multi-use space with a side-entry off the street, fenced private space, greenspace, commercial kitchen and laundry facilities.

The estimated cost of each hub is $2 million (capital), plus $2.7 million per year in operating expenses.

The functions of hubs are intended to include:

• 24/7 Safe Places
• Basic needs
• Community engagement
• Housing access support
• Income supports
• Integrated care planning
• Justice system services
• Medical stabilization beds
• Access to acute and primary care
• Respite beds
• Transitional beds
• Translation and interpretation
• Transportation

The first hubs will offer service to so-called “priority populations” including:

• Couples and families
• Indigenous individuals
• Medically complex individuals
• Women & female-Identifying individuals
• Youth (16-25)

Pending council’s approval of the location criteria on July 25, an Expressions of Interest (EOI) procurement process will be launched on the City of London website by early August.

After four weeks, city staff will lead the evaluation of the EOI’s received.

Council will be asked to approve the location of the first three to five hubs in September.