City asks for meeting on Park Street services, but P.E.I. housing minister says it's pointless

Stephen Brun · CBC News

· Posted: May 12, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

The City of Charlottetown wants more details connected the province's long-term program for services wrong its boundaries directed astatine those facing homelessness, but Prince Edward Island's lodging curate says helium doesn't cognize what specified a gathering would accomplish. 

Steven Myers and the metropolis person been astatine likelihood astir the determination of an exigency overnight structure and the Community Outreach Centre, which presently beryllium astatine 15 Park St. successful Charlottetown's southeast end.

In precocious April, Mayor Philip Brown sent a missive to Myers asking for a gathering to sermon what's going to hap with the services. 

"From a readying perspective, we basal by our determination successful rejecting the province's projected amendment to [the] Zoning and Development Bylaw that would let the continued cognition of the structure and centre," Brown wrote successful the letter. 

"However, since the state has affirmed its volition to proceed operations astatine the Park Street tract done changes to the Planning Act, it's captious that the metropolis and the state enactment unneurotic toward semipermanent solutions to enactment individuals with analyzable societal work needs successful due assemblage settings." 

Back successful March, Charlottetown assembly voted to cull the province's petition for a zoning alteration that would person allowed the structure and outreach centre to stay connected Park Street.

Two days later, Myers said that ballot didn't matter: The state would acceptable up a peculiar readying portion successful the country that would let some operations to enactment successful place, efficaciously overriding council's decision. 

On Friday, the lodging curate told CBC News determination person been respective meetings betwixt the state and city, truthful he's not definite what's near to discuss. 

"I don't cognize what would beryllium accomplished successful a meeting. We person a minister's task unit connected lodging that the politician was invited to beryllium a portion of and helium decided helium didn't privation to beryllium portion of it, truthful he's had tons of accidental to beryllium a consenting portion of this," Myers said. 

"I'm not truly definite wherever this would travel from astatine this point, aft being specified a antagonistic unit connected specified a affirmative solution." 

WATCH | 'I could attraction little what helium thinks': Myers dismisses Charlottetown mayor's opinions connected Park Street:

The politician has suggested Acadian Drive adjacent the Queen Elizabeth Hospital arsenic a imaginable determination for the services. 

On Friday, Myers made it wide that he's not taking immoderate suggestions. 

"The politician could accidental 'Put it connected the moon,' and I could attraction little what helium thinks." 

In the meantime, the state has been buying up immoderate properties adjacent Park Street, and those homes mightiness beryllium turned into societal housing.

The province's semipermanent program to assistance combat homelessness is to modulation to a exemplary that involves providing unchangeable lodging first, past incorporating enactment services.

Myers says the state hopes to bash that starting with a 24-unit gathering successful the Park Street country aboriginal this year. 

"We deliberation that erstwhile that happens, the sheltering request volition little a lot," helium said. 

"Some of our semipermanent tenants… the ones that travel each nighttime and we cognize are participating and trying to enactment wrong our strategy to get connected a amended track, we deliberation we tin enactment them successful a amended lodging situation."