Social agency ordered off Parksville land

City says Manna Homeless Society’s use of site is unlawful, and upsets residents

The City of Parksville has sent a cease and desist letter to a local social agency, ordering it to stop providing homeless people with food and services on municipal land.

The letter, sent Nov. 15, says the Manna Homeless Society can no longer use city-owned land on Jensen Avenue West for its mobile care clinic on Saturdays.

The area has also been used by homeless campers.

The city said it is not telling Manna that it cannot provide services to homeless people, but it believes the services it provides would be better suited to properties aligned with churches or social service agencies.

In a statement, the city says that the society’s use of the property is “unauthorized and unlawful” and that it had received complaints from residents about clothing, equipment, bicycles and other personal effects left on the site.

“These materials become refuse and it then becomes the city’s responsibility to clean it up,” the statement says.

Robin Campbell, the society’s founder, acknowledges that sometimes homeless sites can be a “little messy.”

He is hoping that the city will help it find a place for its mobile clinic on Saturdays. On other days, it visits nearby communities.

For now, the society is using the Salvation Army, but that organization needs the space, he said. Another food distribution site is needed, too.

Campbell said his group has been handing handing out food on Saturday mornings on Jensen Avenue, near the Salvation Army, for years.

People receive packages of food, each with a container of soup, an energy bar, water, and one other item, Campbell said. Items such as scarves and hats are also distributed.

A pastor provides spiritual counselling and the motor home clinic, staffed with nurse practitioners, helps people with injuries or needing medical treatment, he said.

Agencies working with the community estimate there are about 100 homeless people living in the area between Deep Bay in the north and Nanoose to the south. About half of those are based in Parksville.

Debbie Comis, Parksville chief administrative officer, said bylaw officers work closely with people camping at the Jensen Avenue site. There are now two or three campers sleeping overnight at the site. Comis did not have an estimate of the number of people who had been earlier camping on the property.

Bylaw officers are there daily to ensure tents are packed up during the day and the property is kept clean.

They also arranged to have refuse put in one area so that it can be collected weekly.

“I think it is being managed as much as possible,” Comis said.

There is no portable washroom on site but there are facilities nearby, she said.

A hazardous material contractor was hired by the city in September and October to clean up Jensen Avenue, Comis said.