About 50 residents living near the Salvation Army Church in west end Belleville heard some clarification on the expansion plans for the church from City of Belleville staff Monday and they didn’t like what they heard.
Residents living near the Sally Ann citadel at Bridge West and North Palmer Road have been strenuously opposing a planned expansion that would include a bigger kitchen, dining facilities and a warehouse.
Residents worry that the community meals offered could lead to noise, vandalism and lower property values.
Monday, city staff said the Salvation Army had every legal right to go ahead with the expansion and that the last time council could have had any say in the plans was in 2006 when the property was rezoned for community facility. The Salvation Army had included future plans for an expansion at that time when they applied for a rezoning and council of the day approved it. From then on, the process was technical in nature and left up to staff to insure the plans met the city’s and province’s requirements. The expansion is now up for building permit approval.
After hearing staff’s report, residents left council chambers without comment. Meanwhile the Salvation Army has pledged to take the residents’ concerns seriously and keep them informed of any changes to their plans.
The Sally Ann has already stressed that food meant for the homeless population would be prepared at the church but transported by vehicle to the downtown area or any other area where the homeless tend to congregate so as not to force the homeless to travel a great distance for a decent meal.
