Dear editor,
I think the regional district was a little too hasty in purchasing the Cliffe Avenue property for a possible homeless shelter.
It might have been better if there was a plan in place for what kind of facility might be constructed, if there was a plan in place for funding the construction, and if there was a plan in place for funding the operation of the facility.
It might have been better if there had been consultation with the neighbouring property owners and with people who shop in the area.
Now we have a situation where we have division in the community over something that may never come to pass.
Well-meaning people have become angry with decent people who have worries about what might happen in the area if a shelter is built.
One letter to the editor advocated not patronizing merchants who have signed a petition opposing the location.
The writer of the letter is clearly genuinely concerned about the people who are unable to find a place to live as are, I鈥檓 sure, the people who oppose the location.
It would be better to find another location. And there is time. It is not likely that funding for construction and operation is going to be found right away.
I think a new police station will be built before a homeless shelter gets off the ground.
And when a new police station is built, there will be a vacant building which, I think, could be converted to a shelter.
That鈥檚 just one idea. I know there are others. Let鈥檚 have another look before the conflict over the Cliffe Avenue location starts to boil over.
Erik Eriksson,
Courtenay
