Bottle donors won’t be ticketed

City council scraps controversial plans to crack down on panhandlers, buskers

People who give bottles to homeless people don’t have to fear being ticketed by Kelowna bylaw officers.

City council on Monday abandoned a controversial proposal to prohibit the donation of bottles and cans near recycling depots.

Council also backtracked on a plan to require street performers to audition with Festivals Kelowna and get a licence before playing on sidewalks and in parks.

“I’m very pleased to see a number of changes that have come forward,” said Coun. Charlie Hodge.

The idea of banning donations of recyclables was a response to significant social problems that have arisen near a depot on Kirschner Road.

With large numbers of homeless people gathering in the area to receive and return recyclables, issues were said by city officials to include public urination and defecation, conflicts with nearby businesses and open drug use.

Rather than fine people who give away bottles, the city will instead try to “expand its outreach and support to those most vulnerable,” Rob Mayne, director of corporate and protective services, told council.

It has emerged that the lease for the Columbia bottle depot will not be renewed by the property’s landlord this fall, and the facility will be relocated.

Coun. Gail Given said she had read that much of the money made from the return of recyclables was used to buy alcohol, and she predicted social problems would arise wherever the bottle depot moved.

“I know we will be needing additional resources wherever they relocate to,” Given said.

But the “real problem,” Given said, is the lack of housing for homeless people, a situation she said the city was trying to rectify with its Journey Home anti-homelessness task force.

No changes to the city’s current busking program, run by Festivals Kelowna, will be made until there is some consultation with the arts community, council heard.

Currently, there is no bylaw against busking. The Festivals Kelowna scheme is an entirely voluntary one, in which street performers are asked to play only at some designated locations, but there is no way the city can prevent people from playing anywhere else.