It’s coming up to two months since a Coquitlam-based company told the town they are not operating a supportive recovery facility for drug addicts at 5 Bayview Crescent and that they are pulling out of Osoyoos. Neighbours insist the facility is still operating without zoning, licensing or permits. They’re accusing the town of failing to act and they say they’ve had enough. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Neighbours of an unlicensed supportive recovery facility for drug addicts next to Goodman Park are expressing frustration with what they say is lack of enforcement and lack of communication by the Town of Osoyoos.
The facility, at 5 Bayview Crescent, has no provincial licensing, no municipal business licensing and the property has not been zoned to allow it to operate.
“Repeated attempts for information on what the town is doing to stop this unlicensed business use of a home in a single-family zoned property have been met with silence,” says a letter to town council and administration from next-door neighbours Lyle and Margaret Warmington. “Our current bylaws are clear. This use is not allowed!”
The letter follows a similar one from neighbours Ken and Karen Sieben, whose property also backs onto the facility’s yard.
Their open letter, in which they accused the Town of Osoyoos of closing its eyes to the situation, was published as an open letter in the May 30 Osoyoos Times.
Barry Romanko, town chief administrative officer, takes strong exception to these accusations.
“Contrary to the opinions expressed in the letters to the editor, the administration is not turning a ‘blind eye’ to the situation at 5 Bayview,” Romanko said last week in an emailed response.
“The administration has been focused on other priorities, including dealing with all impacts and work related to the floods and getting people back into their homes. The people of the area have been told this matter will be addressed and it will be addressed in appropriate steps that will hopefully result in the results everyone wants.”
Romanko added that the town doesn’t discuss enforcement actions on individual cases. Nor does the process allow for ongoing updates to affected parties, he added, saying that the process does protect the town from liabilities.
The Warmingtons say that for a long time the town didn’t accept their evidence that the facility was operating ahead of any municipal zoning approval or a business license.
They documented the daily rotation of staff, which they say usually parked at Goodman Park to hide the fact they were working at the house.
And they observed and sometimes photographed the recovering addict clients as they arrived or left on outings with staff.
Previously there were two clients at the home, but the Warmingtons say there is currently just one.
In April, the Brandon Jansen Foundation informed the town that they were not operating a facility and that anyone at the home was a residential tenant. They also told the town they were planning to withdraw from Osoyoos.
The Warmingtons say these assertions have been proved wrong.
They’ve recently spoken to the RCMP, who gave them few details, but confirmed that they have been monitoring one of the clients, whose stay at the facility is mandated by the courts.
The Warmingtons say the involvement of the RCMP makes it harder for the town to claim there is no evidence the addiction facility is operating.
“The RCMP have confirmed that it is a client,” said Lyle Warmington. “For [the town] to back off and say that this still isn’t proof does not make sense.”
He insists the town has the right to inspect the premises to ensure that town bylaws are being followed, but says the town has been unwilling to do this.
But that could be open to legal interpretation.
The zoning bylaw allows an inspection at set times, but only with the consent of the owner or with a court order.
The business license bylaw says a license inspector may “enter, at all reasonable times, on any property which is subject to the provisions of this bylaw to ascertain whether the provisions of the bylaw are being observed.”
While the bylaw says a person operating without a license is guilty of an offence, it is unclear how the powers of inspection apply to a company that has no license.
A provincial license under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act could allow a supportive recovery centre to circumvent municipal requirements. But Interior Health said last week that neither the Brandon Jansen Foundation nor the Brandon Jansen Memorial Recovery Centre is provincially licensed.
In fact, their application was rejected in November, because they didn’t meet requirements.
The Warmingtons don’t agree with the Siebens that the town is turning a blind eye.
“It can’t be a blind eye because of all the notoriety,” said Lyle Warmington. “They’re obviously aware of it.”
They believe the town may have received threats against enforcing the bylaws and that the town is reluctant as a result.
They point to the experience in Surrey where city officials have been struggling for years to shut down illegal recovery centres, which keep popping up and are often run by unscrupulous operators. Some have become crime centres.
Lyle Warmington said Surrey has had success in shutting down illegal operations and he’s hopeful that Osoyoos can learn from that city.
And despite what he says was a recent testy meeting with Romanko, he said he hopes the neighbours and the town can work together.
“We would like this to be a friendly thing, to be able to work together,” he said.
Asked how the experience of living next to the facility makes her feel, Margaret Warmington struggles to control her emotions.
“Awful,” she said. “It’s ruining my summer.”
The Warmingtons experienced basement flooding recently, but the fear of not knowing who is coming and going next door seems to be more stressful.
A person mandated by the courts to be there might have a serious criminal record, but the RCMP can’t tell the neighbours, said Lyle.
“I can’t go out into my sunroom without watching this happening,” said Margaret.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
