Cornwall's housing hub approach gets some pushback

The building which once housed Vincent Massey Public School is now where the City of Cornwall, Ont., is planning supportive housing units. (Submitted by Fred Ngoundjo)

The City of Cornwall, Ont., wants to open a former school as a supportive housing site this autumn, but some residents are worried and say the community outreach leaves a lot to be desired.

Last summer, after an in-camera session, city councillors approved buying 1520 Cumberland St., a central site including the former Vincent Massey Public School building.

The city said at the time classrooms could be converted into "supportive/transitional housing units."

Though work to help people without homes in the eastern Ontario city continued behind the scenes for months, early project details for the site were shared in November after a death in one of the city's homeless encampments.

After discussions with designers, the city revealed last month the project's budget could grow by $2.5 million because 24 units with room for up to 45 people were planned.

Residents drawn from Cornwall's list of about 75 self-identified homeless people might rent units at the site for up to four years, with help to "get stabilized to move into potentially an apartment in a community housing facility," city officials said at a Feb. 13 council meeting.

Other space in the building is for drop-in programs and the city's housing rapid response team. There will be no sleeping cabins, officials added.

"I'm tremendously relieved because so many people have expressed concerns," Coun. Elaine MacDonald said. "I think people thought they'd have a whole lot of people just roaming around with nowhere to go."

"By removing the cabins from the equation, you've taken a lot of heat off this project," echoed Coun. Claude McIntosh.

'Public relations disaster'

A subsequent Feb. 22 public information session was "a public relations disaster," McIntosh told CBC, with people expressing concerns about the project's location — and the city's record of public engagement.

The hub is next to an elementary school, with another elementary school and a high school across the street.

People at the information session said they were worried about drug use and "school kids having to go by that building — even though [many] of them go by bus," McIntosh said.

While McIntosh said some of the comments reflected an "I'm not against this, but not in my neighborhood" perspective, he felt the session should have happened months earlier.

"They felt they weren't consulted enough and I sort of agree with them," he said.

Angie Baker, who lives behind the high school and attended the meeting, believes something needs to be done about Cornwall's homelessness problem.

She also said there was "zero consultation" before the land was purchased.

"Then, finally, they invite us to a February information session. Then [they] wonder why the neighborhood is up in arms?"

The project location, "smack dab in the middle of a school environment [and] children," is of prime concern, Baker said.

Cornwall's strategy to combat homelessness came into stark focus when a woman died at this encampment in November. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)

Coun. Fred Ngoundjo, who supports the project but not the location, wondered if the city couldn't instead keep people housed at a former nursing home.

That facility only has room for 20 people and the city only signed a lease there for seven months.

"We are actively engaging with the owner of [that] property to discuss options beyond our current arrangement," a city spokesperson said via email.

Mayor says he hears lots of stereotypes

Mayor Justin Towndale says many of the comments he's received about consultation speak to a desire among residents to vote on a project and decide the location and have "direct input on the project and its goals."

"Realistically, these aren't feasible to the extent that people are hoping for," he said in his own emailed statement.

"If we allowed residents to vote on every project that we undertake, nothing would ever get done. We get opposition to the smallest projects, like sidewalks."

Towndale said the session didn't happen earlier because the city wanted to wait until its plans were beyond a "rough draft."

The latest plans are "vastly different" from those unveiled last autumn before designers became involved, the mayor noted.

"Regardless of what the facility will look like, there will be opposition," Towndale said, adding that "many of the comments I've received tend to revolve around stereotyping of those who need housing."

Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale spoke in November 2023 outside a former nursing home that was turned into transitional housing. (Amadou Barry/Radio-Canada)

Baker said it's people in the neighbourhood who feel unwanted.

Residents had to register for the meeting, Baker was only allowed to ask two questions and she hasn't heard back from councillors after sending them a letter, she said.

"We've been branded by our own mayor," Baker said, referring to Towndale's comment during the Feb. 13 council meeting that "a little bit of NIMBYism" had "unfortunately" slipped into the public conversation.

McIntosh, meanwhile, said he feels sorry for the people who will eventually call the site home.

"They're going to be branded unwelcome neighbours," he said.