Attempt to build tiny home in Vancouver’s CRAB park blocked by city rangers

Advocates for unhoused people reached an impasse with Vancouver Park Rangers Thursday.

They brought in two-by-fours, insulation and other building materials to build a tiny home in Vancouver’s CRAB Park — the city’s only legal tenting area that’s been around for about three years.

Brad Gustafson, co-founder of End Homelessness Canada, says the plan was to erect the first ever tiny home in the park on Thursday.

“To my knowledge, there has never been a tiny home erected on in CRAB Park,” he said.

Around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, before snow started falling again in Vancouver, Gustafson drove a pickup truck filled with supplies up to the park, where he was met by dozens of park rangers and police officers.

Gustafson says he initially got a ticket from police for stopping in the spot where he was parked, so he moved over to a parking lot.

But when volunteers arrived to help Gustafson move supplies towards the park, park rangers proceeded to block them from entering.

“All we’re trying to do is create something that addresses three issues. One is the safety of the persons, two is the security for their belongings, and number three is the insulation against the elements. None of those things are provided by a tent,” he said.

“And (the tiny home) is still temporary housing. It’s still a temporary structure that is able to be moved by a forklift or crane.”

One park ranger acknowledged that temporary structures are allowed to be built in the designated area, but wouldn’t detail what constitutes such a structure.

“Our request is that you move aside so that we can proceed. We’re not breaking any bylaws,” said Fiona York, a CRAB Park advocate.

In reply, another park ranger said: “I’m not allowing flammables in a park where I see people burned, and tents catch on fire, and I can’t sit with this.”

Darren Peterson, the manager of park operations for the City of Vancouver, characterizes the tiny home as the makings of a permanent structure.

“I’m going to respectfully ask you to not bring all this stuff into the park,” he told the volunteers. “And if you do, and you attempt to construct something, it’s going to be dismantled. And it’s just not going to go well for anyone here.”

Peterson proceeded to ask the volunteers to take up their disagreement about the temporariness of their structure with the city’s legal team.

Shortly after attempting to move into the park, the volunteers quickly decided to stop.

“It seems we have reached an impasse here, folks. I guess we’re going to have to stand down for now, I don’t see any other solution to this,” Gustafson said to the crowd. “(The park rangers) aren’t arresting us, they’re just physically blocking us.”

Gustafson is based in Prince George, where he crowdsourced money to build tiny homes at another encampment and says he was hoping to do the same thing in CRAB Park.