Kelowna

The Director of Operations for NOW Canada is frustrated over yet another delay in construction of a 39-unit supportive housing complex for women and children in the South Pandosy area.

The project was delayed a second time this week when a group of 10 business owners, upset over a loss of parking, hit the City with a lawsuit.

The suit was filed Friday.

The City says the court challenge means the project has been put on hold indefinitely.

"We are extremely disappointed," says Liz Talbott with NOW Canada, the society which was slated to run the facility.

"We are just one of several cities in B.C. that needs affordable housing and I honestly believe Kelowna was very fortunate to be offered this $11 million building and up to 60 years of operating funding."

Talbott says 10 people are basically preventing Kelowna from getting this opportunity.

"I really hope it can be worked out with the lawyers. It's not the City that is losing out, it's women who need housing who will have to remain in sub-standard accommodation or accommodation they can't afford."

Some merchants in the South Pandosy Town Centre are upset the complex is set to be constructed on what is currently a 90 space parking lot.

While the City has secured permanent replacement stalls on Osprey Avenue and Cedar Laneway, merchants say many of the new permanent and temporary stalls are too far away.

Merchants also point to an agreement with the City more than a decade ago in which some area merchants provided property and cash in exchange for the current parking lot.

Kelowna Councillor, Graeme James, says after making several trips to the area, he believes any parking problem in the area is due to merchants taking up many of the parking stalls.

James told council this week he has never seen the lot full.

Talbott meantime says she has spoken with some merchants over the past several months.

While she can't resolve the parking issue, she says she did her best to quash the NIMBYism that was prevalent.

"I was told that it was a building for people still in addiction and straight out of prison. We were going to have needles in the playground and drug dealers in the streets."

Talbott says that is not the case.

"This is a building for any woman with a proven financial need, as long as they have a minimum of 10 months of clean time."

She says there are women in their current facility that have never had a problem with drugs or drug addiction.

Talbott says meantime, it's been estimated that every day they are not in the ground it is costing more than $3,000.

She says they had hoped to have the doors open by the summer of 2010.

Talbott hopes the City and merchants can resolve their issues quickly to make that time line achievable.