City officials say the cleanup of Vancouver‘s only sanctioned homeless encampment has been completed.
The 27 people who were previously sheltering in the designated area of the waterfront CRAB Park will be able to return on Thursday, the Vancouver Park Board said in a media release.
Round-the-clock sheltering has been permitted in a northern portion of the park by a special order since the city lost a legal battle to remove homeless people living there in 2022.
The city said the designated area had become unsafe, with propane tanks, human waste and rats and that numerous illegal built structures had been erected on the site. People living there were ordered to move to a temporary space last month, while city crews used heavy equipment to clear and remediate the site.
Crews removed more than 90,000 kilograms of debris and material, 20 propane tanks and six generators, the city said Wednesday.
“The cleanup process over the last week went smoothly, despite a delay due to a small number of people who needed additional time to relocate and very wet weather, which meant crews needed more time over the long weekend to repair the ground and lay a new gravel layer,” the city said in its release.
“While staff anticipated challenging conditions based on the assessment that required the implemented approach to clean-up and repair, the removal of large and entrenched structures revealed that the conditions were worse than anticipated, reaffirming this was the safest and most appropriate way to complete this work.”
The city said the area had been resurfaced with fresh gravel to improve drainage, and that it had set out 27 clearly-demarcated sheltering sites.
New tents and canopies for individuals and communal areas are being provided through funding from BC Housing.
The city said only those who were registered in the designated area as of Feb. 26 will be allowed to return to it, and that the site will be made smaller as those individuals find housing.
It also said that if conditions in the area “deteriorate to the point of non-compliance with the Parks Control By-law or something happens that is a public safety or health concern” it may withdraw the order permitting round-the-clock sheltering.
Under normal city bylaws, sheltering is only permitted in public parks overnight and tents must be taken down by 7 a.m. the following morning.