VICTORIA, B.C. - The phone lines at Victoria city hall have been buzzing with calls from across Canada from people concerned about a court ruling that allows homeless people to camp in public parks, the city's acting mayor said Thursday.

Victoria city council announced Thursday it will appeal the B.C. Supreme Court ruling but it could take a year to get the case to court, said acting mayor Dean Fortin.

Fortin said the phone lines have lit up with calls from all over the region since the ruling came down Tuesday.

"They're angry at this decision," Fortin said. "But not only that, our phone lines are lit up from municipalities across the region and across the province, and frankly, we're getting calls from back East."

The ruling by Justice Carol Ross struck down a Victoria bylaw aimed at preventing homeless people from setting up tents and sleeping in city parks.

The court ruled that the bylaw deprives the homeless of life, liberty and security in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In her ruling, Ross found that due to insufficient capacity in Victoria's shelters, hundreds of homeless people have no choice but to sleep outside.

Fortin said the court ruling sends the city and other communities down a path to the unknown.

"As it stands right now it is possible for the homeless to erect a temporary shelter in any park, in any public space in the city of Victoria," he said. "This morning our council unanimously agreed that we will appeal this ruling."

Fortin said the answer to not having enough shelter beds or supported housing for the homeless does not lie in opening parks and public spaces for camping.

He said everybody deserves to have a roof over their heads but the city must ensure its parks are safe for all citizens.

"We know from experiences that when tent cities are established they introduce fire hazards, illegal activities and many other undesirable activities," Fortin said.

Homeless people have already set up camps in some of Victoria's famed parks, including Beacon Hill Park near the legislature.

While the city waits for the matter to go back to court, Fortin announced interim measures to deal with the fallout from the ruling.

He said the city will attempt to force people camping in city parks to pack up their belongings and move in the mornings.

Fortin said the court ruling allows the homeless to sleep in public parks, not erect permanent homes as they're doing.

While advocates for the homeless are hailing the ruling, the city, the local chamber of commerce and police say it's not in the interest of the general public.

It's estimated there are more than 1,000 homeless people in Victoria.

Prior to leaving on a trip to China, Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe said blamed cuts by the B.C. government in recent years for a lack of services and shelters for the homeless.

Homeless advocate David Arthur Johnston, one of the defendants in the court case, said he was overjoyed with the ruling and has already set up his tent in Beacon Hill Park in a tree-lined area known as the Mayor's Grove.