The City of Kingston has started the process of evicting encampments that have cropped up at a number of parks and wooded areas within the municipality’s boundaries.
In early July city council voted in favour of reinstating its “no camping” bylaw to remove unhoused campers from those various properties.
Kingston’s CAO Lanie Hurdle says six or seven encampments have already been evicted in the city.
“We’re not proactively monitoring parks or looking to various properties to see if there are people camping in those areas,” said Hurdle. “What we are doing is responding to complaints.”
Belle Park and the wooded area surrounding the Integrated Care Hub will take longer to address, says Hurdle.
The Integrated Care Hub provides services for individuals experiencing homelessness, mental health and addiction issues.
“We have indicated to council it would take more time because we would approach this gradually. We are trying to make sure we have places where we can actually relocate and refer people to,” said Hurdle.
Once campers are notified of their eviction, they have six hours to pack up their belongings and find somewhere else to go.