City of Victoria's Proposed Revisions to Sheltering Bylaw
March 2025
Gonzales Beach Park and Pemberton Park have been designated for sheltering unhoused people since the start of the pandemic 5 years ago. On March 13th, 2025 city staff presented to council a report on sheltering in the city's parks, and provided a draft motion to amend the sheltering bylaw, which council passed.
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Background
In Gonzales Beach Park, unhoused people have used tents and other forms of shelter almost every night since early 2020. One individual stayed in the park for over 3 years straight, and many others have stayed for months at a time. The sheltering bylaw requires that persons staying in the park overnight must take down their structures between 7 am and 7 pm every day to allow use of the park by regular park users. However, compliance has been poor, and bylaw officers have often been too busy in other parts of the city to provide effective enforcement.
This situation has had considerable impact upon residents who live close to the park or even right on the park’s boundary. Unhoused people are only required to maintain 4 metres of separation to private property, meaning that some residents have been disturbed repeatedly by noise occurring right outside their windows at any hours of the night. These residents have also had unhoused people knocking on their doors and entering their private property at night.
Other residents have told us that they no longer use the park the way they used to, either by visiting the park less often or by avoiding early morning and evening visits. Residents have reported open drug use and drug dealing, needles and litter, thefts, threatening behaviour, and sheltering at the washroom as some of the reasons why they no longer feel safe using the park.
Pemberton Park has also had regular use for sheltering by unhoused people, who mainly camp near or between the playground and the ball diamond.
Of the 12 or so parks originally made available for sheltering in 2020, nine have been closed to sheltering in response to deteriorating conditions and public complaints. Gonzales Beach, Pemberton, and Oaklands have remained available for sheltering despite being affected by the same circumstances that led to the closures of the other nine parks. The mayor’s office has refused the GNA’s multiple requests for an audience with the mayor, dating as far back as mid-2023.
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March 13th Report on Sheltering in Parks
The city council motion to amend the sheltering bylaw arises from a city staff report on sheltering, which can be found here:
Addendum_Report_Sheltering in Parks and Parks Regulation Bylaw Report.pdf
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This report is well worth reading. It has an excellent section that explains the legal background of the issue, including Supreme Court of BC cases that have led to municipal jurisdictions in the province finding themselves compelled to accommodate sheltering in parks under certain conditions. Another section provides a well-supported argument that sheltering is incompatible with other park uses and provides a rationale for why it is important for the city to only allow sheltering at nighttime.
The report's key recommendations relevant to Gonzales Neighbourhood are the following:
d. increase the distance between playgrounds and locations of temporary overnight shelters from 8 metres to 15 metres, and
e. expressly prohibit sheltering in all parks, except in the limited circumstances as directed by court decisions in [list of 34 parks],
Recommendation (e) indicates that the city will be identifying a number of other parks for sheltering, although Gonzales Beach, Pemberton, and Oaklands will still be on this new list. At first glance it may seem that sheltering going forward will be distributed among a larger number of parks, potentially lessening the impact on any one park. However, most of the additional parks identified do not have washrooms. Unless the city provides some form of temporary or permanent washrooms at these other parks, it is likely that parks with permanent washrooms will continue to be first choice for unhoused people seeking places to shelter.
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Note that on page 36 of the report it is noted that the list of parks as provided in the report (and shown in the column to the right) is not written in stone. Specifically the report states:
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"The specific list of the parks is included in the recommended motion but is ultimately for Council to determine based on Council’s view of how to best balance the need to ensure there is sufficient space within the city to accommodate temporary overnight sheltering by persons experiencing homelessness, and maintaining parks for their intended purpose for the use and enjoyment of the community as a whole;"
Recommendation (d) would increase the separation between sheltering structures and playgrounds to 15 metres. This is an improvement but some would argue not enough of an increase. Unfortunately, the recommendation does not provide for a similar increase to the buffer around private homes and park washrooms.
The staff report also includes an appendix that provides an estimate of the shelter/tent capacity at each of 55 parks. For Gonzales the tent capacity is given as 11, and for Pemberton it is 39. We are awaiting further information from the city on why this information was needed and how it plans to utilise it. You can view the appendix at the following link:
Appendix 18_Park overviews_55.pdf
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Our Concerns
We are disappointed that after 5 years of use of Gonzales Beach and Pemberton Parks for sheltering, the city has not acted to finally close these parks. The city has identified 31 other parks where sheltering may occur, which should provide more than enough sheltering space for unhoused people, as well as to satisfy homeless advocacy groups and even provincial courts.
However, most of the newly listed parks do not have washrooms, and the city's report does not appear to recommend that such facilities should be provided. Without providing this basic support to unhoused people it is likely that Gonzales Beach, Pemberton, and Oaklands Parks will continue to receive the heaviest use.
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Although the city report makes a strong case for limiting sheltering to between 7 pm and 7 am daily, in practice bylaw enforcement staff are not able to attend the park frequently enough to prevent 24/7 sheltering. If the city intends to continue to use parks to shelter unhoused people, it needs to respect other park users and activities by providing enforcement of the 7 am - 7 pm restriction on sheltering and ensuring compliance with other provisions of park bylaws.
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Neighbourhood residents living adjacent to parks need a larger spatial separation to sheltering sites than the current buffer of 4 metres. This separation should be at least 15 metres, and more in cases where the homes are built close to the property line.
In regard to the safety of people sheltering in the park, the GNA and the Gonzales Beach Block Watch have previously pointed out to the city that Gonzales Beach Park is situated right on the Strait of Juan de Fuca and is subject to frequent high wind conditions that are incompatible with sheltering/tenting. It is surprising that the city is now considering adding two more equally windy parks - Clover Point and Holland Point - to the list of parks available for sheltering. In the case of Gonzales Beach Park, there additionally is a substantial risk of falling trees and branches during wind events. The city's "Park Overview" of Gonzales Beach Park does not seem to adequately consider the location of the tree canopy in relation to potential sheltering sites. ​We recommend that the city exclude the parks in the windiest locations from the sheltering parks list.
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How to contact the city
If you are concerned about the future of sheltering in Gonzales or Pemberton Parks, consider contacting the mayor or city councillors. Jeremy Caradonna is the city's designated councillor for liaison with the Gonzales Neighbourhood. If emailing you may wish to cc the GNA on your email at gonzalesneighbours@gmail.com.
Contact options:
- Send one email to all councillors: councillors@victoria.ca
- Councillor Jeremy Caradonna: jcaradonna@victoria.ca
- Mayor Marianne Alto: malto@victoria.ca
You can find a complete list of phone numbers and email addresses by clicking here.
Proposed list of sheltering parks:
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Alexander Park,
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Alston Green,
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Banfield Park,
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Barnard Park,
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Begbie Green,
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Begbie Parkway,
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Blackwood Green,
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Bushby Park,
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Chapman Park,
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Charles Redfern Park,
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Clawthorpe Avenue Park,
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Clover Point,
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Ernest Todd Park,
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Fisherman's Wharf Park,
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Gonzales Beach Park,
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Gower Park,
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Holland Point Park,
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Jackson Street Park,
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Johnson Street Green,
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Lime Bay Park,
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Mary Street Park,
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Mayfair Green/Tolmie Park,
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Oaklands Park,
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Olive Street Green,
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Oswald Park,
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Pemberton Park,
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Redfern Park,
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Rupert Terrace Green,
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Scurrah Green,
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Selkirk Green,
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Shelbourne Green,
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Sitkum Park,
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Songhees Hillside Park, and
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William Stevenson Memorial Park
From Appendix 18 of the city report. Aerial view of Gonzales Beach Park showing potential sheltering sites (ie, tent spots) as green squares.
From Appendix 18 of the city report. Aerial view of Pemberton Park showing potential sheltering sites (ie, tent spots) as green squares.
Sheltering in Gonzales Neighbourhood
November 2024
The GNA recognises that the issue of homelessness is a highly complex problem with no easy solutions, and that sheltering in parks is a poor option for people without housing as well as a safety concern for housed residents. Gonzales parks have been designated for sheltering since the start of the pandemic.
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In early 2020 just after the pandemic struck, the number of indoor sheltering spaces in Victoria was reduced to maintain physical separation of people to prevent spread of the virus. That, in combination with more homeless people arriving in Victoria, resulted in the city trying to manage the overflow by designating 12 parks with washrooms as places for people to shelter outdoors. The list of 12 parks included all three parks in the Gonzales Neighbourhood: Gonzales Beach, Pemberton, and Hollywood Parks.
Over the last four years the city has gradually closed most of the other parks to sheltering, largely in response to neighbourhood complaints about crime and disorder. On August 1st 2024 the city closed Vic West and Irving Parks to sheltering, leaving Gonzales Beach, Pemberton, and Oaklands Parks as the only three parks open to sheltering. This has resulted in an influx of people sheltering in Gonzales Beach park, with a peak of at least 12 people camping there on September 29-30 2024.
From the perspective of housed residents, the neighbourhood at and around Gonzales Beach Park has experienced the same issues as have other neighbourhoods with encampments: noise, crime, threatening behaviour, open drug use and discarded paraphernalia, garbage, persistent violations of the sheltering bylaw, trespass, and diminishment or loss of recreational opportunities at the park. This has been happening continuously since the start of the pandemic when Gonzales Beach was one of 12 parks with washrooms designated for sheltering. The GNA has requested relief from this situation, as has happened already at 9 of those parks.
Sheltering locations in Gonzales Beach Park on September 30, 2024.
Gonzales Beach Park
Considering that Gonzales is only a small neighbourhood (7% of the City's area) it seems unreasonable that 2/3s of the City's sheltering parks would be designated here. Gonzales' two parks are only 700 metres apart, further emphasising that the City has done a poor job of distributing the parks equitably throughout the city. ​
There are a number of factors specific to Gonzales Beach Park that make it poorly suited to sheltering.
- The park is tiny (0.4 hectares) with little suitable terrain for tents. Beacon Hill Park, for example, is 187 times larger than Gonzales and at its peak is estimated to have had around 100 tents. If sheltering in Beacon Hill had been at the same density of tents and structures as at Gonzales this September, there would have been more than 1000 tents. Another way of looking at this is that at Gonzales Park there has been as little as 0.04 hectares of park space per tent, whereas Beacon Hill Park, at its peak of sheltering, had approximately 0.75 hectares per tent.
- We have observed that at current sheltering use levels, there is competition between individuals for prime tenting locations, which has resulted in weapons being drawn, and makes individuals reluctant to take down their tents in daytime as per the sheltering bylaw, out of concern of losing their tent site to someone else.
- The lack of space for sheltering results in people erecting tents within the 4 metre exclusion zones along pathways and private property lines, and around the washroom. This lack of space increases the potential for negative interactions between those sheltering and park users.
- The park is one of the busiest in the city, and draws visitors from across the city and beyond. The beach environment attracts families and children, school and pre-school groups, seniors, and dog-walkers. Many local residents have told us they no longer feel safe at the park or in the adjacent neighbourhood streets, and that they either use the park less or only visit at peak times when more people are present.
- The park is unusual in that several homes are adjacent to the park at a distance of only a few metres from the park boundary. To our knowledge there are no other parks with homes so close to an encampment, and these homeowners are profoundly affected by the adjacent activities and trespass onto their private property.
Map showing the relatives sizes of the various parks that have been identified by the city as open to sheltering since early in the pandemic.
A Poor Place for Sheltering
From the perspective of unhoused people, the park has serious limitations that make it a poor choice for them.
- The park’s small size, pathways that bisect the park, and heavy visitation result in a complete loss of privacy and dignity for those seeking shelter.
- The park is right on the water overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca and is frequently exposed to gale-force and stronger winds in late fall and winter, with wind speeds here much greater than locations even a short distance inland. Of the approximately 140 parks and open spaces in the City of Victoria, only Clover Point Park and Holland Point Park would rival Gonzales Beach for extreme wind speed. Storm winds at Gonzales not only blow down and damage tents, but make it impossible for those sheltering outdoors to stay warm and dry.
- Many tall elms occur in the park and create a canopy of large branches that covers much of the park. We have witnessed the aftermath of storms in the past few years that have resulted in large branches and even mature trees crashing down. A storm on November 13th caused some mature trees to snap. It is hard to understand why the city would direct unhoused people to camp in a park subject to such heavy winds, and we are skeptical whether city efforts this past fall to trim branches can adequately mitigate the risk. Additionally, much of the park is too steep for pitching a tent (see maps below).
November 22, 2024. City crew works to clear debris from trees that were snapped in a relatively minor wind storm on November 13, 2024.
July 19th, 2024. A branch weighing an estimated 45 kg (100 lbs) fell from a Field Elm tree overnight, from a height of approximately 15-20 metres. It woke a person sleeping in a tent 5-7 metres away.
Maps illustrating the limits on space for sheltering based on administrative closure areas, areas under tree canopies, and sloping ground too steep for tents.
Gonzales Beach Park: Legal Boundary
Gonzales Beach Park: the City's no sheltering zones within the park (shown in orange - areas within 4 m of pathways and private property boundaries, etc.)
Gonzales Beach Park: Areas under tree canopy and at risk of falling branches
Gonzales Beach Park: Sloping ground that is too steep for tenting
Other Parks for Sheltering
When we have pointed out to City staff and members of council that concentrating sheltering in just 3 parks places a disproportionate burden on the affected neighbourhoods, we have been told that there are many other City parks - most of them without washrooms - that are open to sheltering. When we looked for more information on these other parks on the City’s website, we found that there are 141 parks and open spaces in the City, of which 29 are listed as being closed to sheltering. Only three parks are publicised as being open to sheltering, including Gonzales. That leaves 109 additional parks that by default must be open to sheltering - or are they? The City provides no indication on its website or on the signs posted at sheltering parks that these other parks are available for sheltering. Furthermore, the City Parks Department has not answered our requests for a simple list of all parks that are available for sheltering.
Most of these parks do not have washrooms but there are several that do have washrooms or are extremely close to washrooms. It is a mystery why the city does not show these parks on its sheltering maps, does not list them on its website, and does not post signs at them indicating they are open to sheltering.
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The availability of these parks for sheltering is important because they could reduce crowding at Gonzales, Pemberton, and Oaklands Parks, provide an option for homeless people who have experienced conflicts with other people sheltering nearby, and enable people to shelter in places that are not exposed to extreme weather conditions.
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The map below shows the locations of all parks that are not closed to sheltering (as best as we can determine this from the information on the City's website) with labels indicating the parks that are larger or a similar size to Gonzales Park.
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If you are concerned
If you are concerned about the future of sheltering in Gonzales or Pemberton Parks, consider contacting the mayor or city councillors. You can find a complete list of phone numbers and email addresses by clicking here. If emailing you may wish to cc the GNA on your email at gonzalesneighbours@gmail.com.
Note that you can send one e-mail that goes to all members of council or associated staff members by emailing to: mayorandcouncil@victoria.ca
Parks shown in pink are closed to sheltering.
Parks shown in green are not closed to sheltering
Black squares are public washrooms
Blue circles are water fountains