Hundreds rally against supportive housing plans in Maple Ridge
Posted March 19, 2016 5:17 pm.
Last Updated March 19, 2016 5:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MAPLE RIDGE (NEWS 1130) – They cheered, waved signs, and listened to passionate speeches — a couple of hundred people were determined to have their voices heard at a rally in Maple Ridge this afternoon.
They had a strong message for the city and the province: they don’t want a local hotel turned into long-term, supportive housing.
Claiming they haven’t been consulted, many people are afraid turning the Quality Inn on Lougheed Highway near 217th Street into housing will ruin their community.
“There’s child cares, there’s an elementary school, there’s a high school, there’s the Montessori school, there’s so many things that are going to be affected by that,” argues Dalene Lazarenko.
“And the second thing is, there was no public forum, there was no consultation with the public at all, and it was just that secretiveness, that it’s being pushed down instead of being pushed up, and I think that what concerns me the most is what comes around the shelter. That part that’s going to be right here, as everybody’s driving through Maple Ridge, seeing what’s going to occur, I mean we’re going to have like a dump ground,” she adds.
Employees of The Pantry Restaurant, which adjoins the hotel, are concerned business will plummet.
“I definitely do want to save my job. I don’t feel putting it right here is the best place. It’s right next to a liquor store, I mean this is a family restaurant, it’s been here for [more than] thirty years. I mean my parents have been coming here for a long time. I’ve known the people here, the waitresses, everyone, and the fact that I get to work here now and be part of the community here is just amazing, and I feel like you’re tearing down a part of Maple Ridge if you put a homeless shelter here,” Jillian explains.
The province is in the process of buying the hotel, with plans to renovate it — the building is set to have 61 units.
A temporary shelter nearby is scheduled to close in June — and the people there will likely move to the hotel.
