{"id":397732,"date":"2026-01-09T06:01:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T06:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/397732\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T06:01:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T06:01:25","slug":"city-of-kingstons-supportive-housing-purchase-opens-door-to-community-angst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/397732\/","title":{"rendered":"City of Kingston\u2019s supportive housing purchase opens door to community angst"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The fencing around 1056 Palmerston Crescent holds a notice posted by a member of the public regarding the recent purchase of the property by the City of Kingston for supportive housing. Photo by Cris Vilela\/Kingstonist.<\/p>\n

The first Kingston City Council meeting of the year is expected to attract a full house of residents to discuss the fate of another house.<\/p>\n

Residents of Westwoods neighbourhood in the city\u2019s west end are lining up to address councillors at their Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, meeting to voice concerns about the pre-Christmas bombshell that was dropped on their community.<\/p>\n

The City announced on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, that it had purchased a five-bedroom bungalow at 1056 Palmerston Crescent<\/a>, across the street from Woodbine Park and Kingston Christian School, with the intention of converting it into supportive housing with up to eight people drawn from homeless shelters to live there until they can find stable, affordable housing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of a Council-approved policy to decentralize housing and homelessness supports away from the downtown area.<\/p>\n

One of the growing list of scheduled speakers at next week\u2019s council meeting said he intends to voice concerns about the secretive house purchasing process and how the house will operate.<\/p>\n

He said he acknowledges the criticism levied by housing advocates who support the initiative versus his rights as a homeowner on the street where the supportive housing project is planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is NIMBYism, but there\u2019s more to it,\u201d said Joe (Kingstonist agreed not to use his last name at this time due to his concerns about harassment).<\/p>\n

Joe said he understands why the City undertook a \u201chush-hush\u201d process to purchase the property, for an estimated $780,000, because of privacy reasons for both the seller and purchaser.<\/p>\n

But he said the closed-door decision has only complicated the concerns and fanned the flames of an anxious neighbourhood seeking more details about the house\u2019s operation.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The house buying secrecy) becomes a convenient shield to the rest of the issues,\u201d Joe observed.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s easy to dismiss the concerns raised by himself and others as just NIMBYism (Not in My Backyard), valid points have been raised by area residents that have not yet been addressed to their satisfaction, he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us feel like we\u2019ve been heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the concerns focus on public safety and security once the renovated eight-bedroom home is occupied by those with \u201clow to medium\u201d acuity who may have mental health and addiction issues.<\/p>\n

\"\"Location of 1056 Palmerston Crescent. Graphic via Google Maps.\"\"Location of Westwoods neighbourhood. Graphic via Google Maps.\"\"The residence at 1056 Palmerston Crescent. Photo by Cris Vilela\/Kingstonist.\"\"The walkway next to 1056 Palmerston Crescent from the back of the property. Photo by Cris Vilela\/Kingstonist.<\/p>\n

The City indicated that Ryandale Transitional Housing<\/a> has been selected as the \u201cpotential\u201d operator of the Palmerston house. However, according to Collins-Bayridge District Councillor Lisa Osanic, Ryandale\u2019s Board has not yet agreed to run the facility and a signed agreement is still pending.<\/p>\n

Osanic confirmed the Palmerston house in her district is for supportive housing, not transitional housing.<\/p>\n

She stressed there is a distinction between the two models.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalmerston will be supportive housing and supportive housing is further along the housing continuum than transitional housing,\u201d said Osanic.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThe residents going into Palmerston will be signing that they are one-year sober at least and the support they receive while at Palmerston will be helping them to get jobs and back into the workforce so that they can then move to a subsidized leased rental unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its attempt to provide assurances to mounting neighbourhood concerns, the\u00a0City pointed to the experience of opening a similar sober space for men on Fieldstone Drive in Pittsburgh District.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith regards to impact on the\u00a0neighbourhood, it is important to note that many supportive sites become [an] integral part of their near\u00a0neighbour\u00a0community. Fieldstone,\u00a0a recent\u00a0Ryandale operated supportive housing site in Pittsburgh District, is just one example of a supportive housing site where residents and operations have become part of the neighbourhood,\u201d said Miles Brackenbury, a City Communications Officer in Housing & Homelessness.<\/p>\n

But Joe said he visited the Fieldstone property over the holiday period \u2014 while confusion and anger were building in the Westwoods neighbourhood \u2014 and discovered that residents around the east end home still have unresolved issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t as rosy as has been pointed out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The biggest concern after talking with Fieldstone neighbours is that occupants of the home are \u201cnight owls\u201d and are often smoking cannabis by a shed in the backyard. While smoking cannabis is legal for both recreational and medicinal reasons, a large group of people smoking a joint at the same time has proven problematic for Fieldstone\u2019s neighbours in that it has interfered with the enjoyment of their own backyards, he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me there is still not much resolution to that issue,\u201d Joe shared.<\/p>\n

Of the on-site cannabis consumption, he added: \u201cIt\u2019s also counter-productive for others in that home who may be struggling with addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Fieldstone Drive property. Photo via Ryandale website.\"\"Victoria Street property. Photo via Google Maps.\"\"St. Andrew\u2019s Manse at St. Andrew\u2019s Presbyterian Church, which became a Ryandale property in 2021<\/a>. Photo via St. Andrew\u2019s Church.Properties operated by Ryandale in the City of Kingston.<\/p>\n

Joe said he doesn\u2019t want to be painted as vilifying or stigmatizing those struggling with homelessness, mental health or addictions, but neighbours around the future Palmerston Crescent supportive housing project have the right to raise those and other concerns with the policymakers.<\/p>\n

Soon, many of them will.<\/p>\n

On the same night that residents line up to address council, Osanic will have a motion on the floor that calls on the City to sell the Palmerston property<\/a> and find a new location. However, it remains unclear if Osanic\u2019s back-to-the-drawing-board motion will muster enough votes to pass.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Joe said he and others also plan to attend a Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, public information session from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lancaster Public School, 1020 Lancaster Drive, to discuss the supportive housing project at 1056 Palmerston.<\/p>\n

But some people may be shut out of that meeting, which is a ticketed event and is already \u201csold out\u201d (though there is no cost for \u201ctickets\u201d).<\/p>\n

According to the City\u2019s Get Involved webpage, the school\u2019s meeting space can only accommodate 80 people and it appears that anyone else attempting to register at this time won\u2019t be able to attend.<\/p>\n

Osanic said the information session will be run by the City, but someone from Ryandale will be there to answer questions as well. Of the planned supportive housing location near his own house, Joe conceded: \u201cI\u2019m realistic. It\u2019s probably going to happen. I am basically stuck with it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fencing around 1056 Palmerston Crescent holds a notice posted by a member of the public regarding the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[167175,49,48,44067,45421,168060,295,168061,168062,167180,168063,54342,148315,167182,168064,167183,168065,3552,168066,167186,66,167189,168067,168068],"class_list":["post-397732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-1056-palmerston-crescent","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-city-council","tag-city-of-kingston","tag-closed-door-decision","tag-environment","tag-fieldstone-drive","tag-housing-advocates","tag-housing-and-homelessness-supports","tag-housing-continuum","tag-kingston","tag-kingston-city-council","tag-lisa-osanic","tag-near-neighbours","tag-neighbourhood-concerns","tag-public-information-session","tag-public-safety","tag-rights-as-a-homeowner","tag-ryandale-transitional-housing","tag-science","tag-supportive-housing","tag-upcoming-council-meeting","tag-woodbine-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}