Residents challenge permit for Boyle Street's proposed overdose prevention site in Ritchie

Residents in the Ritchie and Old Strathcona neighbourhoods are again trying to prevent Boyle Street Community Services from opening a health hub that includes an overdose prevention site at 81st Avenue and 101st Street. 

Nine people opposed to the site signed up to speak at Edmonton's subdivision and development appeal hearing Thursday at city hall. 

At least one person signed up to speak in support of the proposed health hub will get a chance when the hearing resumes May 14. The hearing will resume on May 21 if required. 

With four daycare centres nearby as well as local businesses and residential buildings, the neighbourhood is not suitable for a centre where people are invited to consume drugs, the appellants argue.

It's the second time the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board is hearing arguments about the proposed health hub. 

Last summer, the board revoked the development permit awarded by the City of Edmonton because the entrance to the building wasn't universally accessible.

Boyle Street adjusted the entrance with a ramp and reapplied for a permit. 

Rob Bligh, whose family owns a local business across the street from the proposed location, said he believes the site would invite crime and deter people from investing in and redeveloping the area. 

"We feel it's now threatened by the proposed use under review by the board," Bligh said. 

Also a co-founder of the Scona Concerned Citizens, Bligh said they now have more than 2,500 signatures on a petition for the agency to find another location.

"We're not opposed to helping people with addiction, we know it's a problem," he said. "We're just trying to protect our families, our homes, our employees, our businesses in our community." 

Patricia Golec, who owns a condominium nearby, is concerned the site would bring crime to the area.

"Obviously if you're a seller of illegal substances, you want to go to where the people who use it are, and in this [site], they will be in our neighbourhood."

The proposed site is a small building, nestled between a second-hand bookstore and a restaurant, that was formerly a hair salon.