The City of Lethbridge has clarified that there are currently no proposals to build a new supervised consumption site in the community, November 17, 2023. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

No proposals for new supervised consumption site in Lethbridge, despite rumours

Nov 17, 2023 | 9:34 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City of Lethbridge has dispelled a rumour that a new Supervised Consumption Site (SCS) is in the works.

The City is in the process of conducting public engagement on a renewal of the Land Use Bylaw, which will impact how neighbourhoods are developed.

Officials held an open house at CASA on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, to discuss how “social uses” are regulated. This would affect zoning requirements for facilities such as food banks, homeless shelters, supportive housing, and more.

One section of the “social use recommendations” page raised quite a few eyebrows at the meeting. It had to do with setting a buffer so that a hypothetical SCS or homeless shelter could not be built within 150 metres of a school, park, or recreational facility.

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Due to the fact that the document outlined specific criteria for SCSs, community members reached out to Lethbridge News Now, concerned that this could mean a new SCS might be under development.

Lethbridge formerly had an SCS, which was operated by ARCHES and was open from February 2018 to August 2020.

Members of the public had raised safety-related concerns and it was forced to close after an audit conducted by Deloitte for the Government of Alberta uncovered $1.6 million in provincial funding being unaccounted for.

Since the site’s closure, Alberta Health Services has operated an Overdose Prevention Site out of a trailer outside of the Lethbridge Shelter and Resource Centre.

The City of Lethbridge confirmed to LNN that there are currently no plans for a new SCS to open in the community.

“There have been rumors since the summer about a northside shelter (not SCS) and we did hear that concern from folks who visited the open house yesterday,” city officials told LNN in a statement.

They pointed to a tweet from Mayor Blaine Hyggen on August 18, 2023, in which he said he had been hearing from residents and business owners on the north side regarding a proposed shelter space.

“I’d like to clarify, there has been no rezoning or development application for a shelter space received by the City of Lethbridge,” Hyggen tweeted.

City officials say that continues to be the case months later.

The municipality explains that one of the proposals under the Land Use Bylaw was to create a specific use definition of “Supervised Consumption Site,” which currently shares the same designation as hospitals.

“The purpose of creating a specific SCS use definition is that residents would have certainty of what constitutes an SCS and where a SCS can be located based on the zoning,” said the City of Lethbridge. “It would also be clear that an SCS could not be combined with another use if the SCS does not have proper zoning.”

They continue, “Currently, we see a lot of fear when something is proposed, that it may be an SCS. A specific SCS definition is intended to allay these fears. The process of rezoning to a site specific Direct Control district would still be an option, however the rezoning process requires a public hearing and decision by City Council before development could proceed.”

The Land Use Bylaw Renewal project is an ongoing initiative that is set to last for the next three years.

Residents are encouraged to complete an online survey and learn more about the project. Both activities can be done on the City of Lethbridge website.

READ MORE: ARCHES ceases supervised consumption services in Lethbridge

READ MORE: Lethbridge’s Overdose Prevention Site now operating as replacement for SCS

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