UPDATE: Vernon okays Hidden Park’s No Sheltering designation

People will no longer be able to sleep overnight at a small park just outside Vernon’s downtown core.

At the regular City Council meeting Monday, April 13, Drake Mason, who lives next to Hidden Park on 35th Avenue, presented a petition signed by over 100 area residents asking that the park in question receive a No Sheltering designation through an amendment to the Parks and Public Spaces Bylaw.

Mason said the issue was not about the unhoused, but about the safety of residents and park users, environmental impacts, and site suitability concerns. He claimed there was trash, sharps and other hazards found at the park; potential issues with people cutting down shrubs and branches to build fires; as well as concerns surrounding visibility and emergency services response with no lighting at the park.

Upon receipt of the petition, Councillor Kari Gares made a motion to amend the bylaw and designate the park as a site where no overnight sheltering would be permitted.  Councillor Kelly Fehr was initially opposed to the motion, stating he was concerned with the movement of unhoused people, though ultimately voted in favour of redesignating the park as there is currently spaces available at the local shelter.