Some homeowners and businesses in the area of the overflow shelter on Exmouth Street in Sarnia say they've had enough.
The Melrose Community Group said since the Laurel Lea Emergency Shelter opened in the fall of 2023, they've dealt with open drug use, public defecation, violence, littering, and other criminal activities.
Spokesperson Tony Gioiosa said they've had enough.
"There are no solutions or support provided to the community, and now we find ourselves before you to say the community is at its breaking point."
In his presentation to council, Gioiosa said Sarnia police responded to 901 calls for service at and around the shelter last year, 181 of which were from October 11, 2024 to December 11, 2024.
Gioiosa said over 50 residents and businesses have signed a petition, calling for action from the county.
"With this, our group is calling on Lambton County to put forward a motion that instructs staff to develop a workplan for council's approval, that outlines how services will be wound down at the shelter and that the shelter will be permanently closed in a 90-day period, and that no future shelters will be open in the community," he said.
Currently, the site operates as an overflow shelter from 5 p.m. to 11 a.m., and during the day it's a housing and homeless resource centre.
Lambton Social Services General Manager Valerie Colasanti said the overflow shelter is full almost every night, and closing it in the next 90 days is just not doable.
"And I certainly hear what the community's saying and we'll continue to try and mitigate what is happening in that neighbourhood," said Colasanti. "But, we do have 35 beds, they're almost full every night, we still have several encampments within the city of Sarnia, if we don't have beds available within a homeless shelter, we won't have anywhere for those individuals to go."
A motion by City/County Councillor Bill Dennis to close the facility did not get a seconder to proceed to a vote.
"They don't belong in a shelter, they belong in a jail," said Dennis. "Let's be real about the whole thing, these are dangerous people, dangerous dudes, they don't belong in a residential neighbourhood, they belong behind bars."
A motion by City/County Councillor Chrissy McRoberts for county staff to investigate the cost of having a Sarnia police officer hired to be stationed at the shelter passed.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley introduced a motion to have county staff regularly engage with the Melrose Community Group, as well as in discussions regarding the exit strategy for winding down the overflow shelter. That motion passed unanimously.
According to the County of Lambton's website, there are over 300 individuals on its by-name list of homelessness.
That includes individuals that are couch-surfing, housed unstable, staying in emergency shelters and transitional housing, or sleeping outside.