Rutland residents to have say on supporting housing projects at neighbourhood forum

KELOWNA – A forum on supportive housing in Kelowna's Rutland neighbourhood is being organized by a local community group.

The Rutland Residents Association has scheduled a forum entitled The Impact of Low Barrier Housing on Rutland Neighbourhoods for Sept. 14.

Association president Peter Pagliocchini tells iNFOnews.ca he is still working on the list of presenters for the forum which will include residents, business owners and bylaw officials. Audra Boudreau from the protest group Rutland for Safe Neighbourhoods is the only speaker to be confirmed so far.

Representatives from groups that manage the supportive housing projects, or from B.C. Housing, have not been invited.

“B.C. Housing has had a lot of time,” Pagliocchini said. “We’ve gone to their open houses. We feel this is a good chance for the residents to voice some of their concerns and be heard. Hopefully, something positive will come out of it. So, mostly it’s for people in our Rutland area that obviously have been impacted by this and not necessarily in a good way."

Boudreau led a petition drive against the McCurdy Road supportive housing project that collected 13,000 Kelowna signatures and resulted in a change to the way it will be managed.

Four other similar projects are either already operating in or near Rutland, or are scheduled to be built in the next year or so.

Boudreau had encouraged the 2,500 members in the Rutland for Safe Neighbourhoods Facebook group to join the residents association, and Pagliocchini said he has seen a bit of an uptick in membership.

Following the presentations, Pagliocchini plans to moderate a question and answer session where he says, “hopefully their decorum is going to be maintained.” He hopes to take some of the concerns raised to Kelowna city council.

The forum is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Rutland Senior Citizens Centre at 150C Gray Rd.

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