Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) board member, Marion Burton, spoke out in an interview with Arthur following the results of the August 26th General Committee meeting where councillors voted down PATH’S temporary zoning application that would allow them to build 24 sleeping cabins at 385 Lansdowne Street East for up to three years. 

The location is currently owned and operated by Habitat for Humanity, who have entered a lease agreement with PATH, who would operate the sleeping cabins on the vacant part of the property.

During the past council meeting, several delegations spoke out against the zoning amendment with concerns over noise control, safety of residents in the surrounding area, and potential crime rate increases. The majority of council shared a similar sentiment, with only Councillors Alex Bierk and Joy Lachica voting in favour of the zoning amendment.

Burton told Arthur that she is “very disappointed” with council’s decision to deny PATH’s zoning application. She stated that council were only supposed to make a determination on the rezoning application, but instead the conversation turned towards the validity of PATH’S ability to run a tiny homes project.

“We’re not going away,” Burton said. “We hope that the city, in time, will come to their senses.”

She added that she wanted to correct a lot of “inaccurate statements” made during the August meeting by both council members and delegates, citing the claim that there are no windows in the sleeping cabins as one example. 

“One very simple [false statement] that was made was that there’s no windows in our sleeping cabins. Well, there’s two windows and a door,” Burton said. She also clarified the amount funds raised for the project, stating that PATH was identified during the meeting as having only raised $250,000, when in actuality, PATH has raised that amount in a five month period and have since acquired funds far beyond that “from the generous people in our community that want to see us succeed.” 

Notably, PATH emphasizes that they are not asking the City for any funding for their sleeping cabins—an important factor as the city is staring down the barrel of an incredibly challenging 2025 budget.

Burton also said that PATH is looking to appeal council’s decision to the Ontario Land’s Tribunal, while continuing to offer unhoused people in Peterborough what they can in the meantime, stating that PATH will continue with their “extremely successful” community clothing hub. 

Additionally, Burton said PATH are considering projects that will help aid people who are unhoused with transitioning into housing, such as a commercial kitchen space where people can gain hands-on experience and obtain a safe food handlers certificate, and furthering conversations with supporting agencies for more ideas to aid in homelessness support.

During the August meeting, Councillor and Co-chair of Housing and Homelessness Keith Riel was outspoken in his opposition for PATH’S zoning application, something Burton said was “ironic” due to their previous meetings where Riel apparently “indicated that the City is looking to partner with PATH to help come up with solutions” for homelessness, and yet, she said, “they turn around and not even let us show them that we can be successful.”

“We’re not a bunch of inexperienced do-gooders, we have a lot of experience around the table…just because you’re retired doesn’t mean that you’ve lost all capacity to still be a useful contributor to our community,” Burton stated. 

Burton also said that PATH understands they need to correct challenges around the city development plan—though it has been approved by city staff—but the goal is to be “good neighbours.”

“We don’t want to be seen as a blight on the community,” she said.

However, a delegate from Tormont Cat which is located just behind the proposed sleeping cabin site stated that the noise from the Tormont Cat site would be unbearable for residents in the sleeping cabins.

This, said Burton, leaves PATH “baffled,” noting that PATH has already been operating on the current Habitat for Humanity site for almost a year, and said Lansdowne Street traffic is “equally as loud.”

“Tormont goes by periodically,” she said. “But not to the degree of Lansdowne Street. And those who were charged with assessing the noise determined that that was not an issue…to say something so patronizing as their concern about the mental wellbeing of our residents in relation to noise was rather insulting,” Burton stated. 

Despite the overwhelming opposition PATH faced at council, Burton said PATH is still continuing their fight for the sleeping cabins. 

“I hope that people start to take a look at what currently exists and want to work collectively to improve the housing situation for people,” she said.

On the topic of what currently exists in Peterborough, Burton spoke on the comparison between the sleeping cabins and the Wolfe Street modular homes, stating that Wolfe Street is a project funded by the city and province, and is “extremely expensive” to run.

“We would be half the size at our maximum capacity…we have 10 cabins ready to go.” The cost of the sleeping cabins according to Burton are $10,000, compared to the $20,000 units at Wolfe Street. 

“The comparison costs are not equal at all,” she said. 

Burton added that the issue that arises following an extremely successful program like Wolfe Street is the lack of transitional housing, which causes issues for residents who are ready to move on from the modular homes. 

“We could support Wolfe Street by giving individuals that are more stabilized an alternative sleeping cabin that would open up the area of Wolfe Street…there are a whole lot of people that we would be able to provide adequate housing with a sleeping cabin that would support them in their needs at this stage of their life,” she concluded. 

Ratification of council’s decision will take place during the September 3rd Council Meeting.

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Editor's Note: This article was updated on September 5th to reflect the correct amount of funds raised by PATH from $25,000 to $250,000.