Appeal Filed Opposing Sober Living Facility, Results Expected Wed June 14

Written by Kelly Allard

The Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) approved the development permit for a proposed Sober Living facility to be run by the Mustard Seed (MS) at 435 North Railway St SE at the April 12 meeting.

previous application for an overnight shelter

This was the site of a proposed overnight shelter back in June 2022 which was shot down by the MPC. The MS had already jumped through a bunch of hoops including providing a seven page Good Neighbour Plan which was included in the June 22 2022 MPC Agenda Packet ; the MPC wanted them to do even more.

As a result the MS withdrew their application for the overnight shelter.

Right now clients go back and forth between the overnight shelter between on 8th St SE between Allowance and Kingsway and the daytime shelter which is on Allowance on the other side of the overpass.

Medicine Hat is the ONLY city of its size in Alberta without a 24 /7 shelter.

The Proposal

The proposed Sober Living Facility would house up to 10 people who could stay as long as one year, paying a reduced rent. The expected average stay would be 14 days. Bill Nixon from the Mustard Seed (MS) said at the April 12 MPC meeting that they anticipated that the ideal number would be six people at any one time.

I was at that MPC meeting. The Niemans were the only ones to get up and speak to this even though the gallery was full of people. (MPC chair Darren Hirsch DID say that people were welcome to come up and speak but ONLY if they had new information to add. He didn’t want people repeating each other.)

If there were any written submissions, they were not included in the agenda packet. Late submissions are not permitted to be considered.

The Objections

Business owners Krista and Steve Nieman have filed an appeal of the development permit approval for the Sober Living facility.

They say

"There is anecdotal evidence of members of the Mustard Seed simply taking a picture with the business operator and considering it sufficient consultation. This is just one of many egregious stories and unfortunately, members of the city administration elected not to do the appropriate due diligence, choosing simply to accept the word of the Mustard Seed instead.”

The appeal does not mention the name of the business owners who were not “sufficiently consulted’, nor do they define “sufficiently consulted”.

(Anecdotal evidence and stories, however “egregious”, is insufficient. You need to provide proof. This would be like going to court , saying “I heard this” and demanding that the judge due their “due diligence” to help you prove your own case.)

Their appeal includes a sheet that lists 17 people representing 13 addresses titled

North Railway Street businesses who are not in support of the Mustard Seed opening a "Sober Living Residence" at the Champion Center, 435 N. Railway St. Southeast Medicine Hat

The list of concerns include:

Lack of accountability being #1, #2 my safety
Safety of staff and customers for evening classes
Safety, degradation of the (illegible) area I want to ensure we improve this area
Safety for clients and surrounding businesses
Safety for clients
Safety and transparency
Safety for my clients

The other 10 spaces were left blank.

Concern - the location and risk to the sobriety of the facility residents.

"Within walking distance from the proposed facility is three bars and liquor stores, two kids dance studios, and three kids art studios. Outside the obvious challenge to sobriety that bars and liquor pose, the population that would typically be walking around the facility such as this could create unease for the children and their parents.”

Concern - participant screening.
"What are the requirements for entry into this facility? The Briefing Note that went to the Municipal Planning Commission and the Regular Council meetings said that there would be “participant screening” and that “selection is vital to program success”. At the Municipal Planning Commission meeting, the statement was that an individual only had to show up and say they were sober. This does not constitute participant screening.”

Here’s an application form that all residents of a similar facility in Calgary must fill out. It lists all the rules and the fact that the residents can be drug tested at any time etc. etc. etc. This Calgary facility is a little different because each unit has cooking facilities whereas the Medicine Hat facility has no cooking facilities. It's likely people will just stay at the Medicine Hat facility long enough to get on their feet and get into permanent housing. I found this in about five minutes. Any of the business owners that are opposed to the Sober Living Facility could've found it too. I don't know if the Mustard Seed gave this information to any of the business owners, it certainly would've been a good idea for them to do so. It might have allayed some of the concerns.

Concern - property values.

“Furthermore there is the concern that if facilities such as this will decrease the property values are an otherwise mostly commercial Road. For an area of the city that is seeing revitalization, this would be a clear step backwards as it would deter potential investors.”

it’s NOT NIMBYism!

”The community urges the City to take this seriously and not simply as a demonstration of NIMBYism. The Root Cellar is an incredible facility that serves a similar population to this proposal, and it is welcomed and celebrated. Had the Mustard Seed been transparent with the businesses and residents of the area, engaging in a fulsome engagement process and working together to create an innovative facility that would help to meet our community’s goals, the community members would be just as welcoming the new inclusion. Instead, both the Mustard Seed and the City have not done their due diligence. To continue to let this development proceed would be endorsing a disregard of due process and a disrespect for members of the community.”

Nowhere do they suggest an alternative location, even in general. Most people would object to placing this sort of facility in a residential area or near schools. The services need to be close to the people who need them yet I’ve heard people say they want all the services moved outside of the city. They think that way they would be moving the problem out of Downtown and other areas.

That's the sort of attitude that created things like Canada’s shameful history of deadly Starlight Tours.

The Medicine Hat Subdivision and Development Appeal Board will render their decision on Wednesday, June 14.

#kasosumh #comtv #communityTV #soberliving #mustardseed #nimbyism #yxh #medhat #medicinehat #MunicipalPlanningCommission #MPC