Rezoning for halfway house given thumbs up
Posted Jul 26, 2010 6:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Calgary John Howard Society has been given the green light from city council to relocate its Victoria Park halfway house to the Manchester Industrial Area, despite community concern.
Council voted 13 – 2 to allow the re-zoning of the property in the Manchester industrial area in the southeast.
It was standing room only at City Hall council chambers Monday with residents of Parkhill and Stanley Park speaking out against a proposed halfway house in their neighbourhood.
More than 50 speakers voiced their concerns on the issue. The vast majority were in opposition of the change.
The proponents of the halfway house got the floor first, including Jan Fox of Correctional Services Canada. She says the location, just east of Macleod Trail in the 4400 block, is a solution for everyone.
“A solution that would be suitable for the offenders and the means that they have, so they have transportation, they’re able to get to work, were able to get to programs, and were able to see their parole officers and we were able to get to them,” she says.
She also says they wanted a solution that wouldn’t cause a great deal of concern to the community.
The proposed site is nearly 2 km away from the nearest school but less than 1 km from Stanley Park with access to C-Train directly through the industrial area.
The CJHS currently operates Bedford House in Victoria Park.
