Camper evicted from city park
E.J. White, 73, said he lived in tent for more than year at Chemong Rd. park
A homeless man who’s been camping for more than a year in a municipal park along Chemong Rd. was evicted by the city Wednesday afternoon.
E.J. White, 73, has been living in a tent in a wooded area of the park at Chemong Rd. and Sunset Blvd., just south of Walmart.
City officials were at the scene to remove him early Wednesday afternoon with city police officers also standing by. White wasn’t happy about it.
“I never caused no trouble,” he said, wiping away tears as two social service workers from the city put him in a waiting cab that was to take him to Brock Mission shelter for men.
He won’t likely be there for long though: White said he intends to go back to camping soon, this time on private property north of Chemong Rd. that is owned by a friend.
Many people are out of options in Peterborough when it comes to housing: The city’s vacancy rate for apartments has been around one per cent for several years.
When the city and the United Way conducted a count in March, it found 142 homeless people in the city and County of Peterborough.
Since November, the city has followed a new protocol to evict homeless people from municipal parks: campsites are dismantled by city staff after the person has been asked three times to leave and been given 10 days to do so.
Phil Jacobs, the supervisor of parks and forestry for the city, was at the scene Wednesday.
There had been several complaints to the city about White. City workers complained he was aggressive toward them as they were cutting the grass in the park last year.
Social services workers from the city were sent to ask him to leave - and also to try to help him find a home.
“But he (White) was quite belligerent with social services staff,” Jacobs said.
Although he had been given 10 days to leave, Jacobs said White was allowed to stay a month; he’d asked for more time so he could make arrangements to move.
When appointed moving days came and went, Jacobs finally gave him a firm deadline of Wednesday.
Yet as the campsite was dismantled, one area resident stood by in disbelief.
Brian Shorthouse walks his dog along the Parkway Trail, and for more than a year has spoken with White daily as he passes the campsite.
“He’s so friendly and knows everyone,” Shorthouse said. “Never have I seen him panhandle. Never did he yell or scream at anybody.”
Shorthouse said White once told him he didn’t want to live in a homeless shelter because he was concerned he’d be beaten up there.
Shorthouse often saw White picking up garbage along the trail and speaking to people. He recalled that White was solicitous of others.
Occasionally people brought him groceries, Shorthouse said, or city workers would come and make sure he was OK.
Shorthouse approached White as he was getting into the cab to go to the Brock Mission.
“I’ll miss seeing you on my daily walks,” he said.
“I kept this place clean,” White said, referring to his garbage collecting along the trail.
Meanwhile city workers also collected garbage from the campsite; one worker said the site had attracted mice.
There were also seven large garbage bags containing White’s personal effects - sleeping bags, for instance - in the back of a city pickup truck.
Jacobs said the possesions would saved for 30 days, in case White wants it - although two shopping carts were to be returned to the store.