When the current Kelowna city council was sworn into office, Mayor Colin Basran warned his councillors they would have some tough decisions to make.

He was talking about where to locate future social housing in the city.

With the Kelowna害羞草研究所檚 Journey Home initiative to address homelessness approved, Basran knew his council would have little choice but to approve plans for the swath of supportive housing projects he knew was coming from B.C. Housing害羞草研究所攖he very facilities Journey Home called for.

In the last year, the city has seen plenty of those projects spring up in neighbourhoods across Kelowna害羞草研究所攁nd every time, residents of the areas affected turned out in droves to oppose them.

The scenario is playing itself out again with the latest project, one planned for the corner for McCurdy Road in Rutland.

But this time, unlike others, the residents have enlisted the help of their local MLA.

Kelowna-Lake Country Liberal Norm Letnick has written to the housing minister urging her to 害羞草研究所減ause害羞草研究所� the project until B.C. Housing can assure residents there won害羞草研究所檛 be problems in the neighbourhood.

He says he has heard loud and clear from his constituents they feel they害羞草研究所檝e been more than generous in accepting their share of social housing.

That, of course, is a bit of a stretch. Acceptance is not really acceptance if you are opposed in the first place and don害羞草研究所檛 get your way.

What害羞草研究所檚 shaping up is a repeat of the scenario played out in other parts of the city such as recently on Agassiz Road, where residents there害羞草研究所攎ainly seniors害羞草研究所攍oudly voiced their opposition to plans for a supportive housing project in their neighbourhood.

As was the case with previous proposals, opponents protested prior a public hearing on the project, voiced their opposition and watched as council voted to zone the property to allow the project.

In the case of the McCurdy Road building, however, that will not be the case. The land is already zoned to allow for the use. That happened in 2017 when Freedom害羞草研究所檚 Door proposed a similar building on the land. The major difference was the housing Freedom害羞草研究所檚 Door wanted would have provided homes for graduates of its drug and alcohol recovery program害羞草研究所攁n abstinence-base program.

The current B.C. Housing plan害羞草研究所攍ike others it has built in the city害羞草研究所攚ill be what opponents derisively call a 害羞草研究所渨et害羞草研究所� facility, one that allows drug and alcohol use on site by residents.

Despite the difference, back in 2017, there was plenty of opposition to the Freedom害羞草研究所檚 Door proposal, just like there is now with the B.C. Housing plan. Two years ago, council approved the rezoning for Freedom害羞草研究所檚 Door but that project ultimately failed when the province declined to provide a grant because, ironically, Freedom害羞草研究所檚 Door was an abstinence-based program.

So, B.C. Housing stepped in with its plan.

The concept of providing housing to the homeless is one that, in theory at least, has been embraced by most in the city. But when push comes to shove, the theory is different from practice.

If you ask most in Kelowna if they support the Journey Home initiative, they will say yes. But, there seems to be a caveat害羞草研究所攊t害羞草研究所檚 a good plan, just implement it in someone else害羞草研究所檚 neighbourhood.

As we have seen time and time again in this city, NIMBY害羞草研究所擭ot In My Backyard害羞草研究所攊s alive and well.

Alistair Waters is a regional editor with Black Press in Kelowna.