Vancouver officials announce plans for CRAB Park cleanup

The City of Vancouver and Vancouver Park Board staff have announced the second version of a draft plan to clean up parts of CRAB Park,raising concerns from park residents that they will be forced out.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, staff said the decision was made last December to make the area safer and cleaner for residents of the park's tent city.

However, that initial plan had to be changed after it was determined that cleanup by hand was not safe, and that equipment would be needed for repairs and to remove large, unsafe structures.

Vancouver deputy city manager Sandra Singh says the new plan is much more detailed and has been altered with resident feedback in mind.

She says the safety of staff and residents have been at the forefront due to evidence of rats, feces, needles, non-compliant materialssuch as propanetanks and construction materialsand unsafe, multi-floor structures at the park.

"Those same conditions we were concerned about for staff [during the cleanup], we were also concerned about for people sheltering in the daytime area," she said.

The first phase of the new plan is proposed to start March 18 by moving residents to a temporary sheltering area in the park but residents and advocates have claimed the cleanup is a "guise" to decamp people from the tent city.

"This is a forced removal of people from their homes that will result in the destruction of those homes andpeople's lives made less safe," said advocacy group Stop the Sweeps on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The group says the park board is citing health and fire concerns, but adds there have been no orders from either Vancouver Coastal Health or Vancouver Fire Rescue Services to carry out the cleanup.

In 2022, after months of battling the park board on the issue, CRAB Park residents won a B.C. Supreme Court decisionto legally stay in the park. The park board had attempted to evict residents there in 2021.

Vancouver Park Board general manager Steve Jacksonsays following the court decision, his predecessor created a designated daytime sheltering space in the park.

He says people who choose to stay in the parkare required to follow guidelines to ensure space and safety, including having a single tent in a three-metre by three-metre space, and not having non-compliant materialslike generators, propane tanks and building materials.

CRAB Park advocate Fiona York said on CBC's The Early Editionthat the designation was "the first of its kind in the country" that allowed residents to "leave their tents up day and night."

But disputes have continued between city officials and residents ever since, including park rangers preventing advocates from building insulated tiny homes in the winter, and a human rights complaint against the city and park board for failing to provide basic facilities.

The Early Edition6:50CRAB Park residents worry about city's upcoming planned cleanup

Vancouver Parks Board and City staff will be briefing media this morning on a planned clean up of CRAB Park. Advocate Fiona York brings us the residents' concerns.

Singh says the new plan has three phases over three weeks to move residents to a temporary area in the park, clean up and repair the designated area, and then relocate residents back there.

The city's homelessness services team will be working alongside B.C. Housing to offer indoor shelter or housing spaces to residents during the cleanup process, she said.

Until March 18, she says, city and park board staff will be at CRAB Park every day to engage with residents and receive feedback, which will be implemented before the plan's start next Monday.

"We definitely wanted to ensure that people currently sheltering in the designated area would be able to remain in the park. This is not a decampment," she said, adding they are prioritizing getting the work done as quickly as possible.

"We recognize that uncertaintycreates stress for people and no matter how we approach this work it will create stress for folks ... and we want to do our best to mitigate that."

WATCH | CRAB Park residents on why shelters aren't always ideal:

Former resident of Vancouver homeless encampments explains why shelters are not always ideal

9 months ago

Duration 1:26

Andrew Hirschpold, who lived in two Vancouver homeless encampments, tells CBC News that tent cities can offer community support and a sense of safety. In an interview in Vancouver's Oppenheimer Park on Nov. 29, he says shelter beds and single-room occupancy housing may not be the best solution for all homeless people.

In a statement, CRAB Park advocates raised concerns of bad faith communication, given the active human rights complaint against city officials.

They say on March 7 residents and supporters requested that park board staff postpone the cleanup until the complaint had been resolved, and allow residents to carry out the cleanup themselves.

"Over the last year, there were about 15 to 20 days residents set aside to do a garbage-cleaning day, so people are definitely invested in having a cleaner living area," said York.

The statement notes there are currently about 40 tents at CRAB Park.

Singh says residents will not be permitted to clean up themselves, due to safety concerns raised by staff.

She said the human-rights complaint focused on access to showers and bathrooms, and is a different issue compared to what the cleanup hopes to do.

Singh notes police will be present at the site to keep the peace, as staff have been previouslyharassed by protesters at the park.

She said while staff will do their best to have residents voluntarily comply to move during the cleanup, if anyone refuses after a reasonable time they may be escorted out of the area by police.