Former Peterborough Humane Society Designated As New Site For 30 Sleeping Cabins For the Unhoused

Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region (Habitat PKR) is planning to lease property to Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) to build 30 sleeping cabins for unhoused people, announced on Tuesday.

(From left to right) Trish Campbell, PATH chair; Susan Zamboni, Habitat PKR CEO, Keith Dalton, PATH land acquisition working group lead and Jenn MacDonald, Habitat KPR Communications and donor services manager. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The location is behind the former Peterborough Human Society building on Lansdowne Street East. Habitat KPR has agreed to sign a three-year lease with PATH for the latter to use the tiny homes. The former has future plans to build a mixed-use development according to Susan Zamboni, Habitat PKR CEO.

“We will be purchasing the property at the end of June,” she said. “We have an accepted offer and then PATH will start renting it at that point and doing some renovations inside the building to meet their needs for three years.”

The houses are meant to create a transitional living center for individuals in the community who are unhoused. 

“Our goal is to build a bridge between homelessness and stable, permanent housing,” said Campbell.

The area will require rezoning for ‘temporary use’ with the City of Peterborough’s permission which has already started according to Campbell.

“They've already gone through the pre-consultation for that so I feel very confident that they're going to get it and have the support of the City Council when it comes time,” she explained.

The buildings are 30 sleeping cabins for individuals behind the former Peterborough Humane Society (PHS planned for 2024. PHS moved to their new Animal Care Centre in mid-January.

City Council denied a motion for 10 tiny homes to be built but the dismissal did not stop PATH’s determination for getting tiny homes into Peterborough according to Trish Campbell, PATH chair.

“We met a lot of the City staff, planners and Council and it's all good in the end,” she said.

The project is in the early development stages and will host an open house in the coming weeks to provide further information and receive provide feedback. Residents can submit questions, comments or statements of support to pathadm22@gmail.com.

“We want to see as many people in affordable home ownership as possible and in the next three years, we want to see as many people go through the PATH program from sleeping cabins to maybe rent geared to income, rentals to maybe even market. That's the path that we seek,” added Campbell.

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