Neighbourhood fights schizophrenia support home

The McCauley Community League is going to court to prevent the building of a supportive-living home for the Schizophrenia Society of Alberta in the inner-city neighbourhood.

Residents also agreed to begin a legal defence fund to fight similar projects in the future.

The societyhas city approval to build a development called Iris Court at 93rd Street and 107A Avenue andhas $5 million in funding from the province and the city.

The community league fought the project at the the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board and lost.

Appeal board erred: lawyer

Janice Agrios, the lawyer hired by the community league, argues theboard erred in considering the facilityan apartment building.

"The big concern is that what the project in fact is, is a medical treatment facility, which is not a use that's allowed with the existing zoning," she said.

"The city, and subsequently the Subdivision Development Appeal Board, approved it as an apartment, which it clearly isn't."

Thesociety said thefacility is not a treatment centre, but a home with security personnel toensure residentstake their medication and provide other assistance.

'This is very, very important work that needs to be advanced now.' Gary Lathan,Schizophrenia Society of Alberta

"Many of the people who are troubled right now, who could benefit from this kind of service, are in desperate circumstances, either by living on the street or in Alberta Hospital or living in the basement of a home on a tenative basis," said Gary Lathan, executive director of the society.

"This is very, very important work that needs to be advanced now."

Public resistance makes it almost impossible to find a place for this kind of facility, he said, and there are already too few in Edmonton.

Coun. Ben Henderson has asked the city administration to examine zoning bylaws to determine if changes are needed.

"We recognize it's a problem, but we haven't given direction and said: 'OK, these are the tools we want you to go out and start using to solve it,' and that's the next hurdle we have to get over," said Henderson.

Other neighbourhoods watching

The fight against the project is part of a larger battle in the McCauley community.Residents complain there are already too many services and government-subsidized housing units concentrated in their neighbourhood.

They worry that families and businesses will leave aspeople with mental health problemsor needing financial supportare drawn to the area by the proliferation of services.

Other inner-city neighbourhoods are watching McCauley's initiative.

"It's absolutely necessary to stop the issues that we have in all of the central downtown neighbourhoods and it's the only way that we're ever going to have sustainable communities," said Trish Filevich, past president of the Alberta Avenue Community League.

"We're talking earlier today about the tipping point, and I think we have passed that point and its vitally important to get young families to want to come back into the core."

The Schizophrenia Society project is on hold until the Court of Appeal hears the case, likely in July. It could be summer 2011 before a decision is made.