Land located on Energy Court property in downtown Sudbury is being touted by city staff as the preferred site of a temporary supervised consumption site.
City council is set to look at two sites for a temporary supervised consumption site while the search continues for a permanent location.
A survey has identified the the west side of Energy Court lands and the extreme east end of the CP parking lot near the Bridge of Nations, stated a report headed to city council on June 15.
The vacant land on Energy Court meets the criteria for a suitable location, as it is zoned M1-1(10), Business Industrial, which permits a medical office, and measures about two acres in size. Should this vacant land be considered, there would be no impact on the parking supply. Trailers could be placed on the westerly limit of the land, fronting Energy Court.
The Elgin Street (CP) parking lot also meets the criteria for a suitable location. It is zoned C(6), Downtown Commercial, which permits a medical office, and measures approximately four acres in size. Trailers could be placed at the easterly limit of the lot, close to the Bridge of Nations.
The parking lot is located in close proximity to the Samaritan Centre, however, if this parking lot was considered, it would reduce the parking supply by an estimated 25 spaces, said the report. This lot is currently used for monthly parking during business hours and is used for events at the Sudbury Arena, Sudbury Theatre Centre and other downtown events.
Prior to the pandemic, it was fully subscribed and routinely had a waiting list of motorists willing to purchase monthly passes. Within the next two years, the construction of the Junction East project will reduce the parking supply on Shaughnessy Street by approximately 130 spaces. In addition, the opening of the venue will increase the demand for parking in this area.
Trailers could be installed on one of these properties as a temporary solution while staff and CDS continue to search for a permanent location.
Five sites in total were identified after city staff analyzed city-owned lands in proximity to the downtown, including the Kingsway and Cochrane Street area. All five sites were vacant and existing parking lots. Only the Energy Court site and the CP parking lot site met both the separation distance criteria and the zoning requirements.
“While the (Community Drug Strategy Committee) indicated a preference for the Elgin Street (CP) parking lot due to the close proximity to the Samaritan Centre and other existing services already used by the community who would potentially use the supervised consumption site, staff believe the Energy Court site should be the preferred location,” said the report.
Furthermore, the Energy Court site has sanitary services in the street and a water service stub to the property line with sufficient capacity to support the proposed development. The CP site has sufficient capacity, but would require an open excavation across Elgin Street to access the sewer on the north east side of Elgin.
“The Energy Court site would allow for development of an outdoor area with grass, trees or other vegetation designated for passive recreation, without further impacts to existing parking,” said the report. “Developing greenspace at the CP lot site would be more constrained and would impact existing parking.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts has indicated the Urgent Public Health Needs application is completed and will be ready for submission pending a funding source being secured and identified, said the report. Subject to council’s approval of a preferred site, staff anticipates a competitive bid process would be undertaken for identifying a supplier for the trailers needed for the temporary site. The estimated cost of installing three trailers on a site, including renovations, site preparation, mechanical, electrical, connection to services such as water, sanitary and hydro and leasing the trailers for a three-year term is about $800,000.
