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The City of Vancouver says it is moving forward with plans to end the CRAB Park homeless camp on the downtown waterfront.

It said in a statement that the seven remaining residents of the camp located in part of Downtown Eastside Park have one week to pack up their belongings and leave, or they must begin removing their tents each day as the camping area designated returned to the normal day. to use.

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A release from the city says people can continue to shelter at CRAB Park overnight, but structures must be dismantled by 8 a.m. each day starting November 7.

Shelter places have been reserved for those who choose to leave the camp.

The city says it has confirmed the date for the upcoming closure of the area designated for a 24-hour shelter in the park and a return to regular daytime use by the public after a week of consultation with camp residents.

However, the city already faces a lawsuit over the rule it imposed about nine months ago that aims to reduce the size of the camp. Two women who left the camp for a hospital stay and were not allowed to return are filing a complaint against the rule that refuses entry to anyone who has not spent three days a week in the camp.

The city’s joint statement this week with the park board says each of the seven has housing, health services, income supports and transition plans, developed with city outreach workers, the provider of British Columbia housing and others.

In a statement released earlier this month, the city said seven people living in the camp were offered shelter but declined.

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The previous statement said “continued non-compliance” at the camp continued to pose health and safety risks, as well as an “unsustainable” strain on the park board’s resources, and that concern grew as winter approached.

The CRAB Park camp began in 2021 and remained in place until 2022 when a BC Supreme Court judge overturned the eviction notices, in part because the city did not have enough space indoor accommodation to accommodate people living in the camp.

The park board said CRAB Park serves about 6,000 people within a 10-minute walk in an area with very little other green space nearby.

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