Watch: Vernon bylaw dismantles homeless camp

Bylaw officers swooped in on a homeless camp this afternoon on Okanagan Landing Road and Captain Bailey Way.

Clothes, cooking supplies, and other debris were seen getting packed away by the bylaw services department just after 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Geoff Gaucher, Manager of Protective Services told Vernon Matters the clean up was a continuation of enforcement for a camp that was originally reported on August 17.

“It wasn’t appropriate to erect a shelter and an encampment on the side of a public road way. That’s not OK, so they were needing to leave so they started to pack up and leave. They had a fairly large pile of belongings. It was going to take them a couple of days to get out of there,” said Gaucher who added that the two occupants of the camp, a male and female are well known to the bylaw department.

Bootcut

Bahamas goes country before country-wide tour

36m ago

Construction underway

Start of new rail trail on track thanks to rezoning

1h ago

Final on TSN

Countdown to Esso Cup in Vernon, event scores $1M economic spinoff

3h ago

On the move

A few days after being told to leave, the two people set up camp once again, this time across from the McDonald’s on Okanagan Landing Road.

Bylaw services went to the site this morning and removed all types of debris from the grass near the multi-use pathway.

“What was left there was some garbage, some rubbish, you know. It was bags and things all contaminated with drug paraphernalia, needles and things like that so we took that abandoned property off the edge of our roads,” Gaucher said.

“It’s a public health hazard, it’s a public safety hazard so we haul it away.”

Since word of the camp dismantlement, local resident Tanya Hyldig said she is not confident that the problem of homeless camps in her neighborhood will go away for good.

“Now that bylaw has cleaned it up I imagine it will only take a few days to get going again. However, I know the residents around here are keeping an eye out,” she said.