Council doesn't seem to be on the fence about building a barrier at the David Busby Centre in an effort to minimize interaction between its clients and neighbourhood residents.
Without any discussion at Monday night's general committee meeting, council gave initial approval to enter into an agreement with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), which owns the building at 88 Mulcaster St., to erect a fence on city property at the site along McDonald Street. The matter still requires ratification by city council at next week's meeting.
As reported by BarrieToday in May, residents have voiced frustration over some Busby Centre clients making threats and intimidating people who live in the area, as well as drug use and vulgar language. They took their fight, with petition in hand, to a city building committee, pushing for a fence to be built at the facility, which opened late last year around Christmas.
Since that delegation in May, there have been discussions with senior city staff, the property owner, Busby Centre officials and residents to find a way to have a 50-metre fence constructed on the property's McDonald Street boundary.
In a city staff report, planning director Michelle Banfield updated council on the situation.
"A fence will not resolve all of the concerns of the residents, however it is one option that can alter the interface of the property from the residential uses along McDonald Street," Banfield wrote in her report.
The David Busby Centre oversees the aid and shelter of many of Barrie's homeless population in its building, where they provide services for the city's less fortunate.
"The David Busby Centre offers important services to our community, but its operation adjacent to residential uses is not without neighbourhood integration matters that can be improved upon," Banfield added.
The barrier, which could be a "tight-board wood fence," would be 0.3 metres from the street and no more than 1.8 m in height to meet standards outlines in the city’s zoning bylaw.
The CMHA is not opposed to a fence, Banfield noted, but was unsure how to proceed based on the site's configuration.
"Any fence along McDonald Street would have to be on city-owned property," she said. "In fact, with the property configuration as it is, the picnic tables that are in that area are on city-owned property. Staff are required to obtain authorization from council to allow the use of city-owned property, in this instance for a fence."
Putting the fence on city-owned property is the "only viable solution, otherwise no one would be able to enter or exit 88 Mulcaster St., from the side door as the fence would be on the door step," said Banfield, adding there are also parking meters in the area that would have to be worked into the fencing plan.
The CMHA would be responsible for costs associated with the fence and to pay for the use of city-owned land, according to Banfield's report.
McDonald Street resident Neil Little, whose street includes the side entrance to the facility where many people congregate, has been very vocal in his push for a fence.
“We live in fear seven days a week and so do our tenants. We have been threatened, intimidated and continue to witness this disruptive behaviour as outlined in the petition,” Little told BarrieToday in May, adding there's also a steady stream of emergency vehicles at the site.
“The Busby Centre is out of control," Little added. "They get the drugs downtown; they bring them up to the Busby Centre and get high or overdose in that area. I’ve lived in my home for 33 years and raised five kids there. It was a beautiful area.”
Another local group is also working on an application to open a supervised consumption site at 90 Mulcaster St., next door to the Busby Centre in the same building, but it has not been approved.
David Busby Centre operations manager Olivia Forrest previously told BarrieToday she doesn’t believe a fence is the answer.
“I do feel for the residents and a part of me understands their concerns, but we can only control what happens in the facility," she said. "We try to give people a safe place to stay and many of our residents are battling addictions and mental-health issues."
