CRAB Park residents call for Port of Vancouver parking lot to be used as site for tiny home village
Advocates say such villages offer better shelter, more stability, have been successfully introduced elsewhere
Tanya McKee says she enjoys the community aspect of living in CRAB Park, the only legal outdoor sheltering space in the Lower Mainland.
"Nothing gets stolen and everybody is willing to help each other out," said McKee, who is among the 80 or so people living in tents at the site.
But living in a tent all year round is fraught with challenges, not least in terms of the weather, she said.
"The winter time is coming, so everyone's a little wary because you gotta stay warm."
Park residents and their advocates believe they have a solution to those challenges: tiny homes.
Last week, they launched an online petition calling for the city and the Port of Vancouver to create a tiny home village in a parking lot adjacent to the park.
These temporary transitional houses have heating and amenities that provide better protection from the elements than tents, says CRAB Park advocate Fiona York.
"It will make things more survivable for people," she said.
The petition was launched shortly after the CRAB Park tent city marked its second anniversary, having been the latest destination for many homeless people after a series of encampments across the city were taken down.
In January 2022, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that the Vancouver Park Board did not have adequate justification to issue eviction orders for the park, allowing the tent city to remain.
In the past 10 years, 10 tent encampments have been taken down just within Downtown Eastside, including a 150-person tent city at Parking Lot 5, the proposed site for the tiny home village.
The Port of Vancouver, which owns the parking lot, took legal action to clear out the encampment.
CRAB Park residents and their advocates say the parking lot is underused and is a perfect space for a tiny home village.
"It would just kind of make sense to have access to this paved area — [it's] much safer and drier during the wet months — [and] be able to have amenities, showers and kitchen and electricity in this space that just sits empty right now," York said.
In an email to the CBC, the port said it has statutory restrictions to permit land under their jurisdiction for residential purposes.
Vancouver delays
A tiny-shelter project is already underway in Vancouver, a few kilometres to the southeast in a parking lot on Terminal Avenue.
City council approved the pilot project in February 2022, following a motion brought forward by Coun. Pete Fry.
With a budget of $1.5 million, the project called for 10 units to house up to 20 people.
Fry said he decided to push for tiny homes after seeing such structures in Dignity Village, a community of tiny homes for unhoused population in Portland, Ore. that has been in place since 2000.
"After visiting Dignity Village, it became clear to me that once people have roof over their heads and locking doors they find more stability to deal with other problems in life — stability you can't find in tents and substandard SROs," he said.
But the homes, which were supposed to be completed by last fall, have taken longer than expected. So far, only six units have been built, to Fry's disappointment.
"Really, it doesn't seem like it's got the traction, which is frustrating for me," he said.
Fry says he thinks the delay might be due to the change in government at city hall, after Mayor Ken Sim's ABC Vancouver party won a majority of council seats in October 2022.
"The new majority government has their own intentions around housing and homelessness, so I might need to bring this issue back in our next council meeting," he said.
According to the city, there have been delays because it's the first time it's taken on a project like this.
Tiny homes elsewhere
Delays haven't been an issue in several Vancouver Island cities, however.
In Victoria, the city has constructed 30 tiny homes in a parking lot, while in Duncan, there's a 34-unit shipping container village. Another one is currently under construction in Port Alberni.
"In Victoria, they had a much more supportive council and they were actually able to get a tiny shelter village put together very quickly," said Bryn Davidson, co-owner of Lanefab Design/Build, a Vancouver-based firm that laid out plans for tiny townhomes for homeless people back in 2020.
"We actually went ahead and built a prototype of a tiny shelter and we were trying to find some place for it to go but ultimately, we weren't able to find any location for it [in Vancouver]," Davidson said.
The city rejected Davidson's proposal to build temporary homes because they didn't meet zoning requirements for size of living space, which is 250 square feet for micro dwellings.
Davidson says the firm hasn't worked on tiny homes in the last couple of years.
Despite the delay in building tiny homes, the City of Vancouver said it has been providing a variety of other housing options, including temporary modular housing units.
"Tiny shelters will play a unique role in responding to homelessness as they will provide a private setting and support couples and those with pets not appropriate in a congregate setting," it said in a statement.
'We need to just start trying'
So far, about 1,300 people have signed the petition in support of a tiny home village next to CRAB Park.
"It's all really about the political will and we know there are many barriers and hurdles that could come up, but we need to just start trying," said York.
McKee says a tiny home would mean a chance to build a better life.
"I think tiny homes would be an awesome idea for everyone here, would be good [for the] overall safety and well-being of everybody, would be great," McKee said.
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