The Town of Bonnyville has approved a development permit that could bring a women’s shelter to the town.
The request was presented at the Oct. 8 council meeting.
The proposed development would include 10 sleeping rooms totalling 23 beds. An average stay of two weeks was determined by administration by contacting other shelters.
Transportation will be provided to patrons of the shelter within the Town of Bonnyville as needed.
The application came with over a dozen conditions from administration to have the development approved.
- Area fire hydrants or some other firefighting capability shall be in working order prior to above foundation construction commencing.
- The proposed development shall be located as per the site plan submitted as part of the permit application
- A security deposit of $7,000 shall be submitted prior to the commencement of construction.
- Parking shall be as per requirements of the land use bylaw
- Landscaping shall be as per the requirement of the land use bylaw landscape plan shall be provided to the Development Officer for review and approval. Should the property be abutting a residential area, a solid or chain link fence with slats shall be provided of not less than 1.5 metres or more than 2.0 metres in height along the side abutting the residential area.
Another 11 conditions were listed for the property, which included everything from being financially responsible during construction for any damage done to public property, covering all permitting, water and sewage, and seeing the parking lot paved, amongst other key conditions.
There were 13 adjacent landowner notifications sent out, which received three responses with concerns about the development.
Administration says they met with some of the concerned parties.
Coun. Phil Kushnir spoke about his contact with Cold Lake’s Mayor to see how the shelter in their town has impacted them.
“I talked to Mayor Craig Copeland from Cold Lake about the Dr. Margaret Savage Centre and then now turning into the Stepping Stone. To see if they’ve had any issues there in the past because it’s right in the middle of their city. He says there have been no complaints at either location in the entire time that Margaret savage has been there and now stepping stone going forward,” explained Kushnir. “He said this (women’s shelter) will be the safest building in town, by far.”
Kushnir referenced a letter regarding the proposed development.
“One of the things, when I was reading these letters, was from Staff Sergeant Park, and she had a really good comment of, this is very important for women to know they have a place to go. Because when they are abused, and don’t have a place to go, they are going to stay in that abusive relationship,” he said.
Kushnir says this development is an important step for the region.
“I think this is very very important for our region to have something like this, that these women who are being abused have a place to go and know they’ll be safe,” he said.
Kusnir said he was happy that he reached out to see how other communities were fairing with shelters in prominent locations. He says he does have concerns regarding the financing of the location.
“I do have concerns with financing going forward, I don’t want this to be put down on our municipality going forward,” he said.
Kushnir says the shelter should be looking to the provincial and federal governments to help with funding their facility.
Coun. Kayla Blanchette agreed the shelter is important for the community.
“I would say this is a need in the community and I think the applicants are certainly the experts here. We should be following their recommendation where an appropriate location is, and they’ve identified it,” she said.
The motion was unanimously passed by council.
Council also approved an application for women’s transitional housing, which will bring 12 beds to the town.
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