Parking lot campers evicted from Vancouver beach after occupying spaces for months
Months after threatening action, Vancouver’s park board has evicted campervans and motorhomes parked illegally at a beach on the city’s west side.
The operation started early Tuesday morning at Spanish Banks, with park rangers knocking on doors to give occupants a final warning that their vehicles had to leave. A tow truck arrived at 8:30 a.m.
The number of vehicles parked at the/ location rose sharply at the end of the summer, upwards of 50 were there overnight despite the lots closing at 10 p.m. Warnings were handed out in October with owners told they would be fined and have their vehicles towed – but that never happened.
In an email to CTV News Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Vancouver Park Board said 187 notices had been issued since October, reminding vehicles owners of the parking rules. Just a few days ago there were still around two dozen vehicles parked overnight.
CTV News spoke with one of the owners, Tony, who declined to give his last name.
“I just kind of came home yesterday and the gates were locked and there was a note on the windshield that said there was an event coming so you have to move your vehicle,” he said, adding he knew of a few other places he could park instead.
CTV News has learned the event is a film production, with the parking lots booked for what’s known as ‘the circus’.
Tony had been living in the lot for about two months because he “thought it would be a fun idea to save some money (and) it’s cheaper than rent.”
Another vehicle owner, Lucas Phillips, needed to have his motorhome towed as it had broken down. Though he wasn’t too concerned.
“It feels like, OK, I (was) here for a while and I was happy – good view, good people, good community. So, that’s good for me,” Phillips said.
Phillips also drives a white Tesla, which he uses to make a living through Uber. He said people are often “confused” and “surprised” that he drives the luxury EV and lives in a motorhome.
“I’m living my dream so it’s OK,” he said.
Many of the owners moved their vehicles willingly after receiving notices to vacate, others accepted the offer to have vehicles towed out of the lots – though the vehicles were only moved down the road to on-street parking. It’s not known if other parking rules will be enforced at the new location.
As of noon Tuesday only four vehicles were left, with rangers unable to find the owners. The park board's spokesperson said if they were not removed by 5 p.m., they would be towed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.