Vancouver Park Board passes new rules around sheltering in parks

The Vancouver Park Board has passed a motion to clarify existing guidelines and introduce new rules around overnight sheltering in the city’s public spaces.

The proposed motion changes the Park Control By-Law, and was passed Monday night after a number of passionate presentations from members of the public opposing the move.

A lack of consultation with the unhoused community who are affected by this motion was cited by numerous advocates in their presentations.

The Park Board’s bylaw changes included, in part, prohibiting tenting under trees and within seven metres of a beach, pond or steep slope, restricting all overnight camping in Queen Elizabeth Park and VanDusen Botanical Garden, and not camping within 25 metres of a playground, school, or child-care facility. Tents also have to be within a 10×10 area and a person’s belongings have to stay inside that area. There are also provisions for the park board’s general manager to enter shelters after posting a warning and make people move their things.

Brennan Bastyovanszky, chair of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, says the bylaws that were finalized are largely already in place, but through a patchwork of memos and other forms that are not clearly laid out in bylaws. Therefore, they can cause specific challenges related to enforcement.

“Because there’s been so many evolutions and refinements over time, we really wanted to document what current practices are and the bylaw is a way to allow it to be easier for enforcement because then it’s clear to people sheltering in parks,” he said, prior to the meeting.

As described in the motion itself, the context for the passed amendments is:

“Over the past several years, the complexity of social issues facing Vancouver – such as the intensifying mental health crisis, the toxic drug supply, deepening poverty, and increasing homelessness – have significantly impacted the use, safety, and cleanliness of many urban parks on a year-round basis. With nowhere else to go, many people experiencing homelessness are sleeping outside in tents and other makeshift structures in public spaces, including parks. The growing number of temporary structures being erected in parks due to homelessness, combined with urban densification, are together putting greater and more complex demands on limited green space.”

Amendments made by councillors Laura Christensen and Bastyovanszky were also passed unanimously before the motion was voted on.

Christensen’s amendments were centred around changes to the wording of the motion, including changing “each night” to “regularly when” in the following sentence:

“In the case of a temporary shelter erected in an area designated by the General Manager as acceptable for daytime shelter, must occupy the temporary shelter for overnight sheltering purposes each night the shelter remains in the designated area.”

Chloe Wells, a volunteer and supporter at CRAB Park, said prior to the meeting that the implications of requiring people to be in their tents every night just isn’t reasonable.

“That prohibits residents from seeking employment that would require night shifts. It prevents residents from seeking care if they feel that a night in the hospital would cause them to lose all of their worldly possessions,” they said.

A second amendment by Christensen was also approved to change the proposed definition of the General Manager, from “any person authorized to carry out the powers and duties of the General Manager” to a person “of the Board as duly appointed by the Board or such other employee of the Board as may be nominated by the General Manager.”

Bastyovanszky’s amendment to the motion was to connect city staff with the provincial government to strike up a working group on matters related to encampments.

Bastyovanszky says the Vancouver Park Board is trying to balance the needs of the city’s unhoused population and residents of neighbourhoods who want to use these spaces.

“They may not agree on what’s in there. But for safety’s sake, we’ve had input from Vancouver Coastal Health, the police, and from our fire services. So it is an informed bylaw decision that’s coming before the board,” he explained.

“Again, parks are not meant to be a permanent solution to the housing crisis. And so, we’re trying to balance, again, from a governance perspective, we’re trying to balance out the needs of those that shelter in parks, and those users of the park more generally, those who live in the neighborhood. There’s over 10,000 people that have CRAB Park as their local green space and access to the water and many residents don’t feel safe to go down there.”

He notes people are allowed to shelter in parks overnight. However, they must pack up and leave those spaces by a certain time to allow others to be able to use these public spaces.

Currently, CRAB Park is Vancouver’s only full-time legal encampment. The space recently underwent a “clean up” by the city, with officials now looking to limit the number of people who are allowed to move back in.

Bastyovanszky says he understands housing is a subject that needs more attention. However, he says “the park board was never meant to solve the city’s housing crisis.”

“We’re playing our part with our limited resources and it’s really the city and the province that need to address the housing and mental health and the opioid crisis that we’re faced with. Any kind of sheltering that happens in parks is a download of costs onto the park board. So when we talk about the park board being underfunded, a lot of resources are going into trying to manage the sheltering in place and the bylaw enforcement around that,” he explained.

“I’m sure everyone in the city would rather that there be enough housing for everyone and that our parks are in wonderful state. But as long as it’s happening and we continue to deal with a housing crisis, then those costs are downloaded onto the park board, and we’re incredibly underfunded as it is, let alone trying to do this. That’s not part of our core services. We’re doing the best we can.”

He says efforts to help those experiencing homelessness are carried out in the most compassionate way possible, and that those measures are “trauma informed” and include other agencies.

-With files from Srushti Gangdev