Neighbours are rising up in opposition to the shelter, saying it has become a hub for drug-dealing and overdoses.
Dea Charlton told city council yesterday that neighbours had no idea the horrors that were coming to their previously quiet neighbourhood.
“This is my home. These residents bought their homes with the expectation of a quiet residential area. Many residents bought their homes prior to the shelter being built. None of us expected to have such drug-induced lawlessness on our residential street,” she said. “As an example this summer there was a drug overdose right in front of my house. That fellow died on the street, right in front of my house. On one day there were seven overdoses, that means seven ambulances, or fire rescue, or fire trucks on 9th, in front of our residences.”
Charlton said neighbours are constantly cleaning up garbage, needles, and excrement from around their properties, and have seen people die of overdoses just metres from their homes, and within sight of an elementary school.
Charlton asked the city to build a fence and install cameras around the site.
Port Alberni Shelter Society executive director Wes Hewitt agreed a fence would help by changing the traffic flow.
City Council said they will work with the Shelter Society to lobby BC Housing to fund improvements.
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