The general manager of the Vancouver park board announced Wednesday that the CRAB Park homeless camp on the city’s waterfront — where seven people remain in tents — will be permanently closed by Nov. 7.
Steve Jackson said park operations staff and city staff were in the park Wednesday morning issuing notice to people living in the tents about a plan to consult with them regarding the permanent closure of what he described as “the designated area.”
The area was established in April 2022 at the discretion of the previous general manager and it was to enable daytime sheltering in CRAB Park. Since that time, staff has met with camp residents and offered shelter or housing, with many accepting offers, Jackson said.
“Many have received housing offers and have not accepted, and at this point in time, we've made the decision that there's no longer justification to keep the temporary designated zone in place,” Jackson told reporters from the park.
Jackson said there are more than 6,000 residents who live within a 10-minute walk of CRAB Park. With the park board's mandate of providing safe access to green space, it's important that the area be returned to the community for regular park use, he said.
At the same time, Jackson added, the space will continue to be available for overnight sheltering for those who wish to use it, which is allowed under current bylaws. People will not be allowed to keep tents up during the day.
'We were quite disappointed'
Jackson was joined by Sandra Singh, a deputy city manager, who said the city’s homelessness outreach team continues to work with BC Housing and other agencies to find shelter and housing for camp residents.
“Five of the seven people remaining have been offered housing and have refused those offers, with one person having refused three offers,” Singh said. “Just last week, a very, very good housing offer was refused, and we were quite disappointed.”
Singh said officials don’t always know the rationale for people refusing the shelter or housing offered. She said the offer made last week was for a renovated city building, which had its own bathroom.
“It was their third offer, and they rejected it,” she said. “They noted they wanted to consult with one of the advocates, and ultimately ended up rejecting the offer.”
Added Singh: “Two people have additional unique circumstances that staff are also considering as they do their work to identify other housing and shelter offers. Everyone has previously been offered shelter and refused.”
'I don't want to die'
Camp resident Sacha Christiano said after the news conference that he has not been offered housing. In fact, he said, he has not been offered shelter or housing in the two years he’s lived on the waterfront peninsula.
Referring to Singh’s comment about a renovated city building with a bathroom, Christiano said he would consider that offer but refuses to move into a single-room-occupancy (SRO) building, with many notorious for poor living conditions and crime.
“If it is one of the SROs, I’m very kind of against the organizations that run them and how they're run and I don't want to die there, like a lot of people I know,” he said.
The 38-year-old man’s last residence was at the Patricia Hotel on East Hastings, which BC Housing opened up a few years ago to house residents of the former Strathcona Park encampment.
Christiano said he got bullied out of the hotel by another person.
'Callous and reprehensible'
Fiona York, who continues to advocate for people living in the park, said homelessness is a growing concern across Vancouver, with many parks populated by people without homes. Focusing on seven people at CRAB Park should not be a priority, given the state of homelessness.
“It's really a misnomer to say people have been offered [shelter or housing] and refused because you have to look at what's on the table, and are they actually listening to people about what their needs are and what their wants are,” said York, describing the park board’s latest action as “callous and reprehensible.”
At one point in the camp’s three-year history on the peninsula, up to 150 people lived in the park. That population decreased to about 40 people just before city crews began a major cleanup in March and April, York said.
“I know that there's over 100 unique individuals that have sheltered in the camp since April that don't have designated spots, but just needed a place to stay,” she said. “Their tent was taken the next morning, so they were moved along. But that's how many people would stay if it wasn't limited to these seven people.”
'Surpassed a million dollars'
The current setup at the encampment is nothing like its previous incarnation — in size, or state — that existed in March when city crews moved into to remove various debris, including propane tanks, to prepare for a major cleanup of the peninsula.
That cleanup cost $366,900, according to information from the City of Vancouver, which said the cost is in addition to “daily operations” in CRAB Park. Jackson added Wednesday that it is costing roughly $21,000 a day on costs related to the park.
“We just surpassed a million dollars in combined costs between park rangers and [the Vancouver Police Department],” he said.
“Obviously, our budgets are tight. We're nearing budget season, as well. And so we do want to make sure that we're spending our money wisely and that the limited resources we have are spent in the most beneficial way to the communities at large. Twenty-one thousand [dollars] a week, from my perspective, is too much to support six people in this park.”
