The City of Vancouver has laid out its plans for a major cleanup in a sanctioned homeless encampment in CRAB Park.
The plan will see between 30 and 50 people moved for a week from a designated part of the park where round-the-clock tents are permitted while city crews remove unsafe structures and hazardous materials.
“This is not a decampment, this is an attempt to clean up this area and ensure that the area is bylaw compliant for safety and health reasons moving forward.” deputy city manager Sandra Singh said Tuesday.
Under the plan, the city will post notices advising residents of the cleanup next Monday, with cleanup work itself slated to begin March 25. Encampment residents will be allowed to return on April 1.
Vancouver bylaws outlaw sheltering in parks during daylight hours, but the Vancouver Park Board designated a portion of CRAB park for long-term shelter in 2022 after the B.C. Supreme Court refused to grant an injunction to clear it of campers.
People sheltering in the designated area are limited to a three-metre by three-metre space and prohibited from using a variety of items including propane tanks and wood pallets.
Park board general manager Steve Jackson said there are about 20 structures in the area that aren’t compliant with the rules, including some multi-storey structures, along with a large amount of debris, fuel tanks, hazardous materials, including human waste, and a rat infestation.
Advocates for those sheltering in the camp, however, say the city is rushing into the cleanup and should wait for a human rights complaint against the park board to be resolved.
“What is the urgency?” homeless advocate Fiona York said.
“Why is there not time given for more feedback, more response, more true communication? It really just seems like once again the park board is just plowing ahead with plans it’s already made.”
While people who are being moved during the cleanup are being offered storage for their belongings, York said many do not trust the process and have had items thrown out or lost in previous encounters with the city.
She described the process so far, in which police have often been present, as “coercive,” adding that residents don’t feel like the city has actually listened to their feedback, including proposals to have residents conduct the cleanup themselves.
“So much of this is bad faith consultation,” she said.
Singh said the nature of the cleanup means those living on the site won’t be able to do it themselves.
“The scale of the debris and hazardous materials is very significant, too significant to do by hand. Both the cleanup and the repairs require equipment,” she said.
But the city has listened to other feedback, she said, including keeping a food and donation tent in the temporary site residents are moved to, and plans to install fences marking out designated tent sites once the designated area has been remediated.
Police, she said, will be on hand to maintain public safety, but won’t be involved in the cleanup itself.
“They are there to keep the peace and that they only engage when staff feel at risk, when they are engaged by people or if they feel there is unlawful behaviour.”
Throughout the process, the city’s homeless outreach team will be on-site, working with residents to connect them with any available housing or shelter, she added.