Residents at Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park say they are facing escalating restrictions

Editor’s note: a previous version of this story said new bylaws were in place restricting unhoused people’s belongings in Oppenheimer Park. However, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation says it has not formally changed its bylaw. A statement from the park board has been added to the story.

Vancouver park rangers were at a Downtown Eastside park Friday morning enforcing what residents say is a newly issued restriction that targets unhoused people’s belongings.

People living in Oppenheimer Park say they are looking for a new place for half of their personal possessions after the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation changed the rules about what they could keep there during the day.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!

“Now they are trying to tell us that we’ve got one week to get rid of our stuff and move somewhere else,” said former Oppenheimer Park resident Gary Humchitt.

“We can’t go anywhere else. Where are we going to go?”

People camping in city parks are already required to pack up and move on during the day, a move meant to limit the creation of encampments within city limits.

Residents of the park say park rangers come by every morning and tell people living there to pack up all of their possessions — including tents and clothing — and put them into two totes and store them in a container.

But now, they say park board officials have told them they will have to reduce this to just one tote.

---

“So far, residents have actively complied with restrictions, hoping to keep their relationship with the park board positive; residents even do their own wake-up calls to get their tents and belongings packed up before park rangers arrive at the park,” Oppenheimer Park community spokesperson Ryan Sudds said in a release.

“In response to this new restriction, residents of Oppenheimer Park will be asking Vancouver Park Rangers to cease the escalation and any confiscation of belongings. Instead, they will be asking to meet with Amit Gandha, director of the park board, to discuss a compromise that will allow residents to keep their belongings.”

According to Sudds, the community had already asked to meet with Gandha on May 14.

Some critics believe the latest limitation being placed on those experiencing homelessness is part of a “drawn-out, slow-motion decampment,” meant to pressure people out of the park ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Vancouver next year, but “avoid attention.”

“They’re trying to force us out,” Humchitt said.

“They’re trying to make us a nobody, but we’re a somebody here.”

The extra restrictions come as the city opens a new playground at Oppenheimer Park on Friday morning.

In the meantime, residents are in limbo, unsure where they’ll be able to keep their stuff during the day or how long they’ll be able to stay at all.

The park board declined CityNews’ request for an interview, but in a written statement said, “There are no new restrictions per our Sheltering in Place Bylaw regarding the amount of belongings that people sheltering in parks can have. Rather, the focus of Park Board staff continues to be on ensuring that residents sheltering overnight remove their belongings during the day so that daytime users can safely use the park.”