'So incredibly frustrating': Petition urges Vancouver to keep late-night partiers out of park

Too many late-night partiers are spilling off Vancouver's Granville Strip into a nearby children's park, according to a frustrated neighbour who is petitioning officials to address the overnight ruckus.

Petitioner Mark Drutz told CTV News he's tried everything from earplugs to a white noise machine, but that the shouting and laughing emanating from sθәqәlxenәm ts'exwts'áxwi7, or Rainbow Park, at all hours of the night "cut through everything," making it difficult to sleep.

"It is so incredibly frustrating," said Drutz, who has lived in the area, at Richards and Smithe streets, for 13 years. "The sound of people yelling and screaming and hooting and hollering is just so loud. There's no ignoring it."

The neighbour shared a video of what appears to be an organized, but unsanctioned dance party held at sθәqәlxenәm ts'exwts'áxwi7, complete with blaring music, flashing lights and costumed attendees doing a conga line.

That was one of at least two major parties thrown in the space over the summer, according to Drutz. 

His petition, which has been signed about 130 times since Drutz launched it last week, calls on the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation to either hire an overnight security guard or fence the area off overnight. 

Drutz told CTV News a park board project manager he's spoken with ignored the security guard suggestion, and rejected the fence idea outright.

"They don't want to set a precedent. They haven't fenced any park in the city except for Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (Classical Chinese Garden) in Chinatown," he said.

In a statement to CTV News, the park board confirmed the city is aware of "some instances where the park has been misused after hours," but that neither of the options proposed by Drutz is under consideration.

Park rangers currently visit sθәqәlxenәm ts'exwts'áxwi7 "numerous times" throughout the day, according to the board, and city protective services patrol the park between 1 and 2 a.m.

"Since patrols started in March of this year, CPS staff have not had to call on (the Vancouver Police Department) for support," the board added.

Officials encouraged anyone concerned about non-emergency situations in the park to contact 311 during the day or the police non-emergency line after 10 p.m. – though Drutz said he tried that over the summer, and was unable to reach police after hours because the phone lines were too busy.

Drutz said he's also tried raising neighbours' concerns with park board commissioners and city councillors, but never received a response.

Officials have acted on previous complaints at sθәqәlxenәm ts'exwts'áxwi7, removing a rolling slide that some locals argued was creating too much noise back in June.

Asked how he would respond to accusations of NIMBYism, Drutz laughed and encouraged anyone who doesn't believe the noise is a problem to come experience it for themselves.

"See how well you sleep at 3 o'clock in the morning," he said. "I've lived downtown all of my adult life in Vancouver, and have not experienced this type of noise."