The executive director of Windsor's Downtown Mission thinks a recent by-law is designed to block its new location.
Council voted in favour of an interim control by-law Monday that would require council approval for future group homes and emergency shelters.
Controversy surrounded a recent move by the mission to flip the former Central Branch of the Windsor Public Library for a plot of land across the street on Ouellette Avenue and Elliott Street.
Dunn tells AM800’s The Dan MacDonald Show the church and kitchen to be built there won't be affected.
"If this is an attempt to block us, and I believe that it is ... this interim by-law doesn't accomplish that," says Dunn.
He says plans are in the works to move the shelter away from the downtown core and they may be in jeopardy.
"It may stifle that attempt because we would need permission to move to this new location if it was to come to fruition but we do have an accepted offer on this spot," he says. "I can't say where it's at just but it would have taken us off of Ouellette Avenue."
Dunn says Mayor Drew Dilkens has referenced the city's "history" with the mission, but he hopes it's not a direct reaction to backing out of the library deal and flipping the property.
"I would like to think it's not personal. Whether Drew and I see eye-to-eye or not is irrelevant," says Dunn. "We both want the same thing, which is what's in the best interest of those that we serve. We serve different people and that might be the challenge."
Dunn has a meeting with Mayor Dilkens and his team to discuss the new location of the mission in August.