Nelson City Councilors have voted in favour of changing the city’s parks bylaw to prohibit camping at City Hall.
The changes come a week after the city evicted unhoused community members who had set up temporary shelters in front of Nelson City Hall.
According to the bylaw document, which was read in Council on Tuesday, the changes seek to balance the constitutional right for 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.
Because it’s a constitutional right for people to take shelter at night, the BC courts do not allow municipalities to ban camping or sheltering in all public spaces.
Instead, municipalities are allowed to prohibit camping in certain areas and limit the period of time for camping to overnight hours.
Under the current bylaw, camping in all city parks and on city land is technically prohibited, which is why the city is moving to alter the bylaw to allow temporary shelters, with a maximum size of 100 square feet and to be in place from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m.
Additionally, the green space around City Hall will be added to the list of prohibited areas for both illicit drug use and camping.
Sarah Winton, Director of Corporate Services, told councillors that the point of the bylaw revisions is to give the city’s bylaw officers more authority to tell people to move along when necessary.
“One of the reasons for the amendment is to give our bylaw department a mechanism to move people along. It would be the public’s responsibility to register a complaint with the city, which goes to our bylaw department, and then they can check it out,” said Winton.
“They will be proactive in making sure that people are packed up by 9 a.m. and moved away by 9:30 a.m., and this bylaw amendment gives them the authority to do so.”
Winton said enforcement will involve education and communication before punitive measures are considered.
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