Kelownasa国际传媒檚 Leon Avenue tent city is on the move after living conditions were deemed sa国际传媒渢oo hazardoussa国际传媒� following inspections by the Kelowna Fire Department.
The city said it has selected two parks for people experiencing homelessness to set up temporary overnight shelter between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m.
A section at the base of Knox Mountain Park near Poplar Point Road (565 Poplar Point Road) and a park off Recreation Avenue (551 Recreation Avenue) will be established for people to sleep safely at night and will include washrooms, garbage disposal, sharps disposal, bottled water and daytime storage.
sa国际传媒淥ur primary concern with the current use of tents for overnight sheltering on Leon is safety-related,sa国际传媒� said Kelowna fire chief Travis Whiting. sa国际传媒淪pecifically, the close grouping of the tents due to the rapid and surprising growth of people sheltering outside and highly combustible materials, and the observed use of unsafe heaters creating fire or carbon monoxide risk to the residents.sa国际传媒�
Jock Tyre, general manager of the Kelowna Curling Club, which is located on the same property as the Recreation Avenue site, said his clubsa国际传媒檚 members need to make the best of a bad situation. He said he was only given the heads up about the situation late Monday night.
sa国际传媒淲e have to straight-up be good citizens,sa国际传媒� said Tyre.
sa国际传媒淚f yousa国际传媒檝e got new neighbours, you donsa国际传媒檛 run over and poke them with a stick. You try it. We see if we can get along. We want to be good neighbours. We want to see what we can do make this the best of a bad situation.sa国际传媒�
Tyre said Recreation Avenue is a better option than the encampments that are currently on Leon Avenue.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a black eye for the city having this as a problem,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檇 rather have them here on a baseball diamond in an industrial area than somebody losing their livelihood because a business is shutting down.sa国际传媒�
In less than 24-hours since he learned about the new camps, Tyre said the city has been very responsive and open to working with him to address his organizationsa国际传媒檚 concerns.
sa国际传媒淢y concern is security of my membership and my building,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淭he city is addressing that as best as they can with ussa国际传媒nd Isa国际传媒檓 hoping that because wesa国际传媒檙e in an industrial area itsa国际传媒檒l have less impact than if it was put in somebodysa国际传媒檚 neighbourhood.sa国际传媒�
There will be strict rules for those who will be permitted to set up shelter, starting with set up at 7 p.m. and requiring them to remove their shelters by 9 a.m. the next morning, unlike on Leon Avenue where sheltering was allowed 24/7. To make the transition easier, people were allowed to set-up tents after 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
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B.C. law requires that in times of insufficient shelter and housing space for those experiencing homelessness, municipalities may not prohibit all its parks and public spaces from being used for temporary overnight shelter. Municipalities can, however, designate which parks are used as such.
sa国际传媒淥vernight sheltering in public spaces is not the long-term solution,sa国际传媒� said community safety director Darren Caul. sa国际传媒淭hrough the Journey Home Strategy, the city will continue to advocate for the provincial government and community groups to provide additional supportive and scattered housing to eliminate the need for people to shelter outdoors.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淭he properties were selected based on a number of factors that considered the current use, amenities and programming at the site, the accessibility of the site not only for the people sheltering there, but also for emergency services, and the distance to services in the core of the city,sa国际传媒� said Caul.
A City of Kelowna news release stated it recognized the response to the rapid growth of those requiring outdoor shelter is not ideal for anyone. sa国际传媒淗owever, it was determined the sites best balanced the rights of the people sheltering outside with people impacted in neighbouring areas and the broader community.sa国际传媒�
Two security personnel will monitor the sites daily between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. and there will be an increased presence of both bylaw officers and RCMP officers.
Residents wanting more information about the overnight shelters can visit or call 250-862-0440.
Meanwhile, award-winning Kelowna filmmaker, Carey Missler, posted a video of his drive down the street using a camera mounted to the top of his car. Since Missler posted the video last Wednesday, it has received over 32,000 views. Missler did not provide any context to the clip in the post, just leaving it with a single sa国际传媒�?sa国际传媒�.
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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