(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Sheldon Spackman

denied last month

Appeal filed in Red Deer Dream Centre proposal

Nov 4, 2019 | 2:39 PM

An appeal has been filed after Red Deer’s Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) last month denied an application for a downtown drug and alcohol treatment centre.

Wes Giesbrecht, co-chair of the proposed Red Deer Dream Centre, says their appeal was made Monday, to the City’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB), which now has 30 days to consider it.

Giesbrecht feels the Oct. 16 decision to deny their proposal, which came in a 3-3 split vote with one commission member absent, to remodel the former Lotus Nightclub at 4614 50 Avenue into a Temporary Care Facility, may have overlooked the intended use of the facility.

RELATED: Red Deer Dream Centre denied by Municipal Planning Commission

“Even just a real, maybe lack of understanding of what an operating recovery centre actually looks like, especially one of this nature,” he explains. “I don’t really understand how it did get denied. At the same time, I respect that and feel like it’s something that is not a mission, but it’s ‘a calling.’ It’s a ‘heart calling.’”

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Recommended for approval by City administration, the proposed Red Deer Dream Centre was to contain 16 units and have the capacity for up to 48 individuals to be in treatment at one time. Those spaces would be on the building’s third floor, which would be added to the existing building during redevelopment.

According to the proposal, each unit would have sleeping accommodations and a bathroom, with two common lounge and kitchen areas provided for individuals at the facility. An outdoor patio area is also proposed to provide individuals access to the outdoors and fresh air in a controlled environment.

The facility’s second floor would consist of meeting rooms and offices to support Dream Centre operations, while the main floor would include conference and meeting space, with a maximum capacity of 600 people.

Giesbrecht feels the proposed facility is part of an answer to a greater solution for the city’s downtown core.

“I don’t really understand how some of the points that were used to deny our application are valid. At the same time, they have an opinion and we have to acknowledge that.”

Reasons given for MPC’s denial included the proposed development not being compatible with existing development in the area, and the development being contrary to the intent of the Municipal Development Plan (MDP) with respect to the principle of ensuring balance and diversity in historic downtown.

Other reasons included the lack of reasonable access to sufficient parking to accommodate potential daytime uses of the proposed “place of assembly,” thereby unduly impacting the use or enjoyment of neighbouring properties, and the form and design of the proposed application being deficient, given the lack of onsite food services and adequate recreation spaces in the facility.

Giesbrecht says it’s important to note the proposed Red Deer Dream Centre would be a secured facility.

“That’s been one of these misstatements that have been flirting around,” he points out. “Some say it’s locked-down, some say it’s wide-open. There is significant information data if you will that’s out there, that will support the fact that in L.A. alone, when their dream centre opened up, they saw a decrease in crime in that area of over 90 per cent.”

Giesbrecht feels what needs to be addressed in Red Deer is the aftermath of what happens to those struggling with addictions and utilizing things such as supervised consumption services.

“So we’ve saved them, but what have we saved them from?” asks Giesbrecht. “This is where recovery is so different. It’s a full-blown, critical rehabilitation program that’s proven to work.”