Treatment centre looks te m.-ýiiov t&ýý T~an Rdlà.à" -*1 & % By GILLIAN CORMIER Special ta The Champion A local addiction treatment cen- tre for women is applying to increase the number of residents it cao accommodate at a proposed new site from l0Oto 12. Hope Place, currently located on Regional Road 25, is in the process of acquining 4091 and 4093 Tremaine Rd. for its new location. Afler 15 years of operation, it bas outgrown its current facility. A meeting of the Comrttee of Adjustmnent and Content (COA) will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. to discuss an application by Hope Place to ailow a minor variance to zoning bylaw 144-2003, whicb would allow Uiem to bouse 12 res- idents in a recovery borne for sub- stance abusers. The proposed site is currently Luned as rural, which allows a maximum of 10 residents in a group borne, as long as Uie home is licensed, supervised, approved or funded by the province for tempo- rasy case of bomeless persons or those in rebabilitation for drug or alcohol abuse. Ian Simupson, who sits on the board of directors for Hope Place, sald Uiat Uic centre receives fund- ing from. Uic Ministry of Health for 12 beds, and Uiat's why it bas applicd for an increase. Mr. Simnpson sald the bouse on Uic Tremaine Road property meets the size requirements of Hope Place, and is all one level, which saves Uiem the cost of installing elevators to meet accessibility needs. If the application to increase to 12 beds isn't approved, whether or nos to proceed wiUi the purchase of the property will be a Hope Place board decision. But it would be a setback, sald Mr. Simpson. "It's rather critical for us to get approval, so were hoping for Uic best," be sald. In order for Uie application to be approved, the five-person COA must be satisfied Uiat it's only a minor change in zoning require- ments, it's appropriate to Uic devel- oprnent of Uie land and in general respects Uic intent of Uic Official Plan and zoning bylaw. The Hope Place proposal will be accompanied by a Planning Staff Report, preparcd by Town Senior Planner Barbara Koopmuans, wbicb supports Hope Placc's application to, mercase Uic number of residents. The report will be prescntcd to, Uic committce, wbich will also take into consideration any citizen sup- port or rejection of Uic proposal, and Uicn there wiil be a vote. But aside from, the issue of whether or not to allow Uic increase, one resident feels Uic issue of how 10 properly inforru local residents when a group home moves into Uieir neigbbourhood also needs attention. Penny Boxal sald Uiat local resi- dents weren't given adequate notice that a group home waa potentially moving into Uieir ares. Ms Boxail rents 200 acres on Tremalne Road, across from Uic site. She said she underatanda Uiat Uic Town is obligated to inform only Uiose wihin 125 mu of Uic site, but still feels Uic tiny posting on Uic property, where she first learned of the group home, was inadequate. "For al you know it could be a garage sale sign if you don't stop and physically gel out to look at it," she said. It just semcnd sneaky, she said, and she was uncasy simply because she didn't know wbo would be moving in across Uic street from ber. She would have been grateful for a more compre- hcnsivc effort on Uic part of Uic Town to let residcnts know wbat was happening. "Not one of Uic people in my ocigbbourbood kncw," she said. Ms. Boxail plans to attend Uic COA meeting Thursday to, voice ber concerna. "I think we ail nced more infor- mation," she sald. The COA meeting will take place in Council Chambers. The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, JuIy 26, 2005 - A3 ILAST CHANCE! I ë6 1001W I MISS MIS 9GREAl OPPOIIIUNIIY Y aP4 For the firsi time iD history, everyone in Canada gets th1e GM Employee Discount* on virtually ail 2005s. You pay what we- pay. Not a cent more. *See dealer for complete details. Some restrictions do apply. M LARGE SELECTION I fW",W- N