Loitering bylaw similar to Penticton proposed for Vernon

Jun 10, 2019 | 4:55 PM

A Vernon city councillor would like the city to have similar loitering bylaws as Penticton which bans sitting or laying on certain sidewalks in the city.

Coun. Scott Anderson put forward a notice of motion at Monday’s council meeting.

He did not speak as to why he thought the bylaw was necessary, but told the media that he will speak about the reasons for the bylaw when he is ready.

#Breaking Coun. Scott Anderson wants the city of #vernonbc to look into loitering bylaws similar to what they have in #Penticton pic.twitter.com/7rAzjEZNOY

— Tiffany Goodwein (@misstiff_94) June 10, 2019

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In his most recent opinion article on Infonews.ca, titled The two solitudes of vagrancy and addiction, Anderson wrote:

“The problem we have is addiction and/or mental illness. More particularly, the relatively small number of that population who feed their habits through crime. Many choose to live in makeshift shelters in and around our urban areas, and the garbage generated alongside our waterways, the constant annoyance of panhandling, open drug use, the threatening behaviour of some, and most of all the crime – the ever-present crime – makes taxpaying citizens see red.”

The City of Penticton passed its controversial bylaw June 4.

Violators can face fines of $100 per offence if they are caught sitting or laying on certain streets.

The amendment to the good neighbor bylaw in Penticton caused a huge uproar with the Pivot Legal Society and homeless advocates who argued the bylaw is discriminatory.

A proposed loitering bylaw similar to Penticton’s will be brought forward at the next council meeting.

by Tiffany Goodwein

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