And taxpayers will get to have their say on a proposed homeless shelter at a public hearing in January.

Coun. Mike Clay voted against granting first two readings to the bylaw after his attempt to add a housing agreement, similar to what had been approved by Coquitlam council, was nixed in a 3-3 vote.

Clay was hoping to find a way to approve the shelter at St. Andrews United church on St. Johns Street on a temporary basis, thus avoiding the need for a bylaw amendment.

“Our friends in Coquitlam ended up with a housing agreement,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t have faith in our friends at the church, or the societies involved in this, but I have had a fair amount of concern from residents.”

Clay suggested a housing agreement, which would spell out the rules and regulations of the temporary shelter as outlined in the Hope for Freedom Society’s own plan, might suffice. Those stipulations spell out the number of people allowed into the shelter, the dates it would be operating, as well as restrictions on alcohol and drug use. Should there be a violation of the housing agreement, it would then give the city legal grounds to close the shelter, Clay said.

Coun. Diana Dilworth supported attaching a housing agreement to the bylaw amendment, saying it would “make clear to the community what our intentions are.”

Councillors Karen Rockwell, Bob Elliott and Mayor Joe Trasolini voted against it, saying it was extraneous and unnecessary.

“Regardless of a violation of a housing agreement, if one is attached to this, it has no teeth,” Rockwell said, noting the bylaw would supersede the agreement in any case.

Should the city rezone the church property in the future, taking out the shelter as a permissible use, the church would simply become non-conforming operators and would be free to continue hosting the shelter as long as it didn’t break for more than six months.

First two readings of the zoning bylaw amendment passed in a 5-1 vote (Coun. Meghan Lahti was absent).

The public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2008 at Port Moody city hall.

spayne@tricitynews.com