LIFE Recovery Association’s plan to re-establish a recovery home on Melmar Avenue was approved by council on Monday, despite not meeting the city’s minimum distance requirements.
The city’s bylaw prohibits supportive recovery homes from being established within 200 metres of a school or an existing recovery home. LIFE Recovery’s site is 180 metres from a school and 88 metres from another recovery home, but had been previously used as a recovery facility from 2008 to 2011, operated by the Psalm 23 Transition Society.
Coun. Dave Loewen expressed concern about allowing for an exception, adding that the city’s supportive recovery policy was developed with extensive community consultation and was designed to mitigate potential issues.
But Coun. Henry Braun said the exception only allowed LIFE Recovery to re-establish what had existed there.
LIFE Recovery’s program provides rehabilitation for women dealing with substance abuse issues and has been operating since February 1999. They currently operate a home in Abbotsford, and will now create an “alumni home” that will house five women who have already been through the recovery program.