District of Squamish council will debate giving third reading to a camping bylaw that allows the homeless to erect temporary shelters in district parks.
District staff has created a new area in town, defined by blue boundaries (see map above), where camping by the homeless will be allowed.
The district also plans to remove specific sections from park bylaw which prohibits overnight stay in parks, and will introduce language to regulate overnight stay at the parks.
The new bylaw defines a homeless person as a “person who has neither a fixed address nor a predictable residence to return to on a daily basis”.
Temporary shelter is defined as a “temporary structure capable of being easily disassembled and providing shelter from the elements, including any tent, lean-to, or other form of shelter constructed from a tarpaulin or plastic sheets, and for certainty a temporary shelter does not mean a vehicle or trailer.’
If passed, the bylaw will allow a homeless person to erect a temporary tent from 8 pm to 9 am, between May 1 and August 30 of this year.
However, a tent can’t be erected on a trail, on school or municipal hall land, at adventure centre, on a parking lot, in Rose Park. Stan Clarke Park and Brennan Park, or within 20 metres of any permanent structure, building, skateboard park, playground, or playing field.
The district also plans to change its traffic bylaw to enhance existing restrictions for sleeping on roads.
The district says it is introducing these changes as it anticipates many visitors this summer.
“The biggest area of concern is in managing visitor impacts rather than impacts from year-round residents who may be camping,” it says.
The new changes to traffic bylaw will prohibit a vehicle or trailer to park for more than a hour between 10 pm and 7 am on highway or district parking lot between May 15 and September 30.
This would be an additional restriction to the camping bylaw passed in 2019, which prohibits camping in environmentally sensitive areas of the district marked as red zone in the camping bylaw.
The district had planned to extend the camping ban to all of Squamish, but dropped the plan after opposition from concerned groups such as the Vehicle Residents of Squamish.
Tom Cloutier says
Have you had a look at the damage to Strathcona Park in Vancouver and the cost to clean up the mess they left behind? The tax payers of Squamish should not have to pay for the cleanup of others! This is not a solution, and definitely not the wishes of the majority of Squamish residents.
Matt Wood says
Why do non-taxpaying vehicle dwellers have a say at all for any council matter? Last time I checked, council works for the tax paying residents, not transient special interest groups. It is especially disturbing during a pandemic. This will become a huge election issue.
Glenn Stainton says
Matt is bang on this council has for gotten who they are supposed to represent
DLW says
Agree with Matt Wood and Tom Cloutier on this. Council clearly hear your taxpayers, not the “Vanlifers”, “Dirtbag climbers who would rather not pay at the underutilized campgrounds, or tenters who leave a garage sale of garbage including their tent, set fires where they choose disregarding fire safety protocol. How do you distinguish between people who CHOOSE to have no fixed address and bypass all the responsibilities yet expect amenities and those who are actually down on their luck? How about designating very specific areas to better support those who are truly in need so that the understaffed, overworked enforcement officers can have some chance of successful management?
Trevor Wallace says
It is not safe to let your kids play in a park that crackheads camp in at night. They tried this in Vancouver and now the parks are filled with needles and raw sewage.
Glenn Stainton says
Council needs to give their heads a shake and halt this bylaw period otherwise I guarantee this will be a huge election issue as parts of our community particularly Valley cliff get over run by either by the real homeless or the too cheap to pay for camping crowd
Scott says
I agree with the above comments. This is WRONG, this is a BAD idea. I guess common sense doesn’t float around city hall. Just pathetic.
James says
Unbelievable!! How on earth could this be a possible solution.
Give your head a shake council !
Sally says
I agree with everyone above. If my grandchild should step on a needle you better believe that I will be coming after the Council. I think this idea is utterly ridiculous !!!!
K Napper says
I agree 100% with the above comments. I am furious about this decision and agree that it will become an election issue.
And please explain why the ‘camping map’ doesn’t cover the whole of Squamish? If you’ll allow people to stay for free in residential areas, then allow it in ALL residential areas! We all pay property taxes here! Don’t discriminate.
What’s next – shall we bus people up from the city, cause this is a pretty inviting concept?
Finally, how about we enforce the fact that people shouldn’t be coming here during Covid restrictions anyway.
Glenn says
The camping map reeks of hypocrisy “of course let’s not allow camping near quest, the highlands or the estates let’s keep it down in dentville and valleycliff . There should be no overnight camping allowed period and that includes the van lifers