Vancouver begins process of closing homeless encampment at Crab Park
VANCOUVER — Vancouver’s park board says it has begun the process of closing the homeless encampment that has been in place at a local park since 2021.
The park board says it is talking directly with each of the seven people still in the camp located in the designated area at Crab Park, with the goal of closing the encampment and returning the area to “general park use” by Nov. 7.
In a statement, the park board says all seven people on site had been offered shelter previously but declined those offers, and five of the individuals had been offered housing with one person specifically already rejecting three such offers.
The statement says “ongoing non-compliance” at the encampment remains a health and safety risk, as well as an “unsustainable” strain on the park board’s resources, and concern is growing as winter approaches.