Nelson City Councillors voted 4-2 in favour of amendments to its Parks Bylaw, which lay out specifications on where unhoused community members can take shelter.
Council approved the first two readings of the bylaw amendments during July’s City Council meeting, and it was officially adopted on August 20.
Prior to the new bylaw’s adoption, camping in all city parks and land had technically been prohibited.
However, this breaches the constitutional right to take shelter on public land outlined by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
As such, the city needed to amend the bylaw to remain in compliance with the Charter, which permits municipalities to restrict camping in specific areas.
Now that it has been adopted, camping at Gyro, Lakeside, Cottonwood, Rosemont, Queen Elizabeth, Chatham Street, and Lions Parks is only permitted from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. daily, with shelters limited to 9.2 square metres in size.
The same rules apply to camping at City Hall, the Hall Street Plaza, the Hall Street Pier, and the Nelson and District Community Complex, and within 10 metres around the Civic Centre and Scout Hall.
The bylaw document states that the changes seek to balance the constitutional right of individuals to take shelter at night with the broader community’s interest in ensuring that such camping is done in an appropriate and non-disruptive manner.
Councillors Leslie Payne and Jesse Piniero voted against the adoption of the bylaw amendments, with Piniero arguing that it does not consider the capabilities of the unhoused community.
“Most of these people are not capable of finding a different way of living, so they’re going to camp somewhere. I think the community at large probably isn’t capable of packing up their stuff by 9 a.m. sharp and keeping it in a Tupperware box in a small section neatly. I think it’s unrealistic.”
Sarah Winton, Director of Corporate Services, responded to Piniero’s concerns, stating that the city understands the bylaw isn’t a perfect, ‘bulletproof’ solution, but that it provides a path towards a conversation.
She said the bylaw is being implemented to address complaints by community members regarding the unhoused community, allowing bylaw officers the means to communicate with unhoused members and educate them on appropriate behaviours.
“I know that it doesn’t solve the problem, but it does give us a mechanism to work with people, to get to know them and to exchange names and try to work with other groups to coordinate some kind of services for them.”
The bylaw also provides guidelines for the city’s bylaw team on the appropriate way to ask an unhoused community member to move along.
Winton explained that the first step will involve communication with the individual. If they don’t comply after some time, a written notice will be served, followed by a second one if the person still refuses to comply.
If a considerable amount of time passes after the written notices are served and the individual still isn’t complying, the city will then have the means to remove the person’s belongings. However, Winton said this will only happen in rare circumstances.
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