Sarnia council will review a draft encampment response protocol on Monday.
The new plan outlines processes to address homelessness, and rules for prohibited and non-prohibited outdoor spaces where tents or other forms of shelter are erected.
Prohibited areas include:
• Within 100 metres of play equipment and pools on municipal property, schools, or childcare centers.
• Within 100 metres of residential property and ten metres of all other private property.
• Within 5 metres of transit stops, highways, construction zones, sidewalks/roadways, and paths.
• Within cemeteries, off-leash dog areas, community gardens, sidewalks/roadways, paths, under bridges, blocking fire hydrants, blocking accessibility entrances/ramps, entrances/exits/doorways, areas susceptible to flood/erosion, and areas of immediate safety concerns.
• Within 50 metres of sports fields, multi use courts, bleachers, lakes, beaches, ponds, watercourses, docks.
• The following specific municipally-owned properties: Canatara Park, Centennial Park, Germain Park, all waterfront and beaches and the Howard Watson Nature Trail.
If an encampment is located in a prohibited area, city bylaw officers will post a notice giving individuals 24 hours to vacate the property. If they don't leave, they will be removed with the assistance of Sarnia police. In the spaces where encampments are not prohibited, temporary shelters must be free standing, and set up in a row (no clustering), with no more than three shelters permitted per row, and no more than 15 shelters, or 20 persons (whichever is greater) per property.
Sarnia council is being asked to receive the draft and have staff send it to outside legal counsel to ensure its constitutionality.
To view the draft protocol, click here.