Victoria city council has angered downtown businesses once again by upholding a decision to allow a limited number of people without homes to pitch tents in Centennial Square.
Mayor Lisa Helps tried Thursday to get councillors to reverse course and ban camping in the square, noting the negative impact that even a small encampment will have on businesses already struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But a majority of councillors stuck by last week鈥檚 decision, despite the fact a previous encampment of nearly 40 tents in the square was closed due to entrenched criminal activity.
Coun. Sarah Potts noted that new rules on the size and spacing of tents, if adopted by council Monday, will limit the number of structures to a maximum of six once grassy areas reopen following a period of remediation.
鈥淚 think that that is a manageable number and so for that reason, I would be supportive of continuing sheltering at Centennial Square,鈥� she said.
Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe joined Helps in calling for a ban. In addition to the business impacts, Thornton-Joe said Centennial Square is one of the few outdoor spaces that serve a growing number of people who choose to live downtown.
鈥淒owntown does not see the equity that other neighbourhoods have when it comes to green spaces, children鈥檚 playgrounds and parks,鈥� she said.
Jeff Bray, executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association, expressed frustration with council鈥檚 disregard for the plight of businesses and 鈥渢housands of jobs that are hanging in the balance downtown due to COVID and the economic times that we鈥檙e in.鈥�
Bray, who co-chairs the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, said he is devoted to resolving the issues around homelessness. But he said struggling businesses need attention, too.
鈥淥ur members need this council to support them and to say: 鈥榃hat鈥檚 in their best interests? How can we support them?鈥� 鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so, does adding six or 60 tents in the middle of a commercial area help the businesses? The answer is no. It helps the perception that downtown isn鈥檛 safe or welcoming for everybody.鈥�
In other moves related to the city鈥檚 housing crisis, council nixed a motion to have staff investigate options for sheltering people at Royal Athletic Park rather than at Central Park.
There are currently more than 80 tents in Central Park, but the new rules on the size and spacing of structures, if adopted Monday, will reduce the number of structures to 21, city staff say.
sa国际传媒 Housing announced earlier in the week that it has no interest in opening another managed encampment at Royal Athletic Park or anywhere else in Victoria.
鈥淪o we don鈥檛 have an operator and we don鈥檛 have a funder,鈥� Helps said. 鈥淎nd I think that鈥檚 very wise of sa国际传媒 Housing. I think sa国际传媒 Housing needs to focus, as I believe we all do, on moving people from outdoors to indoors.鈥�
The North Park Neighbourhood Association, which has been monitoring the growing encampment at Central Park, raised concerns Thursday about what will happen when the new spacing rules take effect next week.
鈥淭here are serious questions about where the 60 soon-to-be-displaced tents in Central Park are to go, and what resources and supports they will find at new locations,鈥� the association said in a statement, adding basic needs such as access to showers, storage, heating and meals continue to go unmet.
The association noted that the city still has no plan for ensuring that all neighbourhoods share the load when it comes to providing space for people without homes.
鈥淎s long as council continues to approach this as a parks problem, we will continue to fail both the housed and unhoused population. The parks department does not have the expertise or perspective to deal with a complex social problem,鈥� the statement said.