Amendments to Parks and Public Places Bylaw No. 986

TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT

TO: Council
DATE: April 22, 2022
FROM: Jim Henly, Bylaw Enforcement Officer
MEETING DATE: May 10, 2022

Amendments to Parks and Public Places Bylaw No. 986

RECOMMENDATION: THAT the report dated April 22, 2022 from the Bylaw Enforcement Officer titled “Amendments to Parks and Public Places Bylaw No. 986“ be received for information.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS: I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT: To establish bylaw amendments that limit the opportunities for homeless encampments in the Town of View Royals Parks and Public Places

BACKGROUND DISCUSSION: Parks and Public Places Bylaw No. 986, 2018 does not provide the necessary tools to conduct effective bylaw enforcement in municipal parks. This bylaw requires updating and streamlining to meet current physical and legislative changes.

The Town’s parks are spaces which residents enjoy and to ensure this enjoyment staff require enforceable bylaws that can be utilized at the appropriate level with either warnings or fines.

The proposed amendments are not intended to alter the compliance-based approach of the Bylaw Enforcement Department but provide staff with necessary tools.

In updating Bylaw No. 986 sections 17.2 and 20.3 have been added. Section 17.2 of the bylaw is intended to govern camping in parks through time restrictions and placement of structures and section 20.3 deals with removal and impoundment of property related to parks infractions.

Although efforts to house the homeless population has been significant and reduced the number of people that genuinely need and want housing, there are still individuals that will seek out areas in parks where structures can be erected. Once in place, these people are difficult to displace and have significant impacts of the usage in the affected park. Therefore the current Parks Bylaw No. 986 with proposed section updates, will give the necessary enforcement tools to the Bylaw Department when required.

The Bylaw Department has reviewed parks bylaws and MTI schedules from neighboring municipalities in the CRD, including Victoria, Saanich, Colwood, Langford and Sidney to compare to the current Parks Bylaw No. 986 and associated fine amounts. Coupled with this review, staff have looked at the previous Parks Bylaw No. 986 files from the past three years.

The proposed bylaw has also had a legal overview to ensure effectiveness.

The table below lists the number of parks files which includes camping calls received both on Town and Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure property. The spreadsheet clearly illustrates the increase in these calls since 2019:

• As View Royal does not have accessible shelter accommodations, and persons choosing not to access services in our neighboring municipalities have a right established by the courts to camp in parks, the following are the proposed restrictions on camping activity, in order that the TOVR can manage it..
  • Limit the time in which camping can take place
    • The time limited will state 7pm – 7am
    • If the time were extended past 7am, given the realities of moving people, it would extend unreasonably into the day
    • Resources are accessible during daytime hours
    • 7pm allows for set up before darkness for a large part of the year
  • Limit the possible sighting of camping within a park
    • Certain parks will be identified as allowable parks based on their size, location and ability to camp away from restricted features ie. Playgrounds which will allow for more discreet camping
  • Identify parks in which camping is outright prohibited
  • Certain parks will be identified as allowable parks based on their size, location and ability to camp away from restricted features ie. Playgrounds, environmental areas, facilities, public spaces
  • As the list for approved parks is smaller it is suggested as follows:
    • Portage Linear Park
    • View Royal Park (near the TCH)
    • Eagle Creek Park
    • Knockan Hill Park
  • Prohibit camping in environmentally sensitive areas
    • ie: Stoneridge Wetlands, beaches etc
  • Prohibit camping in facilities
    • ie: baseball diamonds, sport courts, bike parks etc
  • Prohibit camping in public spaces
    • Boulevards, washroom facilities, pathways, bridges, gazebos etc.

Colwood is the most recent municipality to amend their parks bylaw to address this issue. As an appropriate comparison model, Colwood’s Bylaw is listed below:

City of Colwood Parks Management Bylaw No. 1771:

5. Temporary Overnight Shelters (1) Except as provided In subsection (2) no person shall: (a) camp overnight in or on any portion of any park or beach; (b) construct or place in or on any portion of any park or beach a tent or temporary building or structure without first obtaining a special events permit;

(2) Where there is no accessible overnight shelter accommodation available within the City of Colwood or the vicinity thereof, a person who has neither a fixed address nor a predictable safe residence to return to on a daily basis may, subject to the restrictions set out in subsection (3), erect and occupy a temporary overnight shelter in a park.

(3) A temporary overnight shelter permitted under subsection (2) must not be erected before 7:00 pm on any one day and must be taken down and removed before 8:30 am on the next day.

(4) A temporary overnight shelter permitted under subsection (2) must not be erected or occupied at any time upon or within; (a) 40 metres of any: i) playground, spray parks or pools; ii) horticultural display areas or gardens; iii) skateboard bowls, tennis courts or other sport courts; iv) sport fields, stadiums or dugouts; v) stages or bleachers; vi) washroom facilities, picnic shelters or gazebos; vii) recreation facilities; viii) beaches; ix) cemeteries; x) golf courses; xi) pathways, bridges, boardwalks, docks or wharves; xii) roads, driveways or parking facilities; xiii) any land designated in the Land Use Bylaw as P5 Zone Natural Park; or xiv) area of a park that has been designated for an event or activity under a valid and subsisting permit issued by the City. (b) 10 metres of an established trail, sidewalk, or private property; or (c) an environmentally sensitive area.

(5) In addition to abiding by the regulations in section 4(1) and 4(2) of this Bylaw, a person who has erected a temporary overnight shelter permitted under subsection (2) must not: (a) obstruct a highway or interfere with the lawful use of a person or vehicle using a highway; (b) obstruct a City employee in the performance of their duties.

(6) Any temporary overnight shelter erected or occupied in a park, beach, or public open space contrary to subsection (1) constitutes a chattel unlawfully deposited in a Park, beach or public open space which may be removed, seized, impounded, sold or disposed of in accordance with the provisions of section 6.

Below is a table of the above noted restrictions addressed by neighboring municipalities: