The former tent city site on the Victoria courthouse lawn is more rat-infested than first thought, meaning the pest-control process will continue until eradication is complete.
“The exact number of rodents cannot be confirmed,” said a statement Tuesday from the B.C. Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services, which is managing the cleanup and restoration of the site.
“Pest-control activities were estimated to take approximately two weeks; however, these efforts will continue until the pests are completely eradicated. Monitoring is occurring on a daily basis.”
Pest management at the site has cost about $6,500 since April, the ministry said. Remediation of the site is estimated to cost up to $350,000 and has been delayed until pest control is complete.
The overall costs to the province associated with managing the site have reached an estimated $1.3 million since December 2015, the government said. That includes security, garbage collection, port-a-potties, fire extinguishers, water service, power pole installation and B.C. Hydro service, fencing and demolition.
The province has also invested $26 million to provide housing for homeless people.
In April, B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson rejected a request by the province to issue an injunction to dismantle the camp, saying the campers “simply have nowhere to move to.”
In July, Hinkson ordered the camp to be shut down by Aug. 8.
B.C. Housing purchased the Central Care Home on Johnson Street for $13.5 million, Mount Edwards Court Care Home on Vancouver Street for $3.9 million and the Super 8 hotel on Douglas Street for $6.5 million, and opened more temporary shelter beds.
Dismantling of the camp at Burdett Avenue and Quadra Street, where up to 150 homeless people once set up their shelters, started in July.
Campers became entrenched at the site beginning late last fall. Victoria bylaws that allow overnight camping in some city parks, but force people to pack up their belongings by 7 each morning, do not apply to the provincially owned property.
As part of the remediation process for the courthouse lawn, the ministry will consider the design and future use of the site in discussion with the City of Victoria and surrounding neighbourhood.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps is on record as supporting a playground on the site to meet the needs of an increasing number of downtown families. City bylaws do not permit camping in playgrounds.
In April, Hinkson noted that the province had no plans to bar overnight sheltering by homeless individuals on the lawn between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
But Gillian Ley, who lives about a block from the courthouse lawn, said a senior provincial official met with about 25 neighbours on Tuesday and told them that “no camping” signs would be posted on the property.
Three weeks after tent city was dismantled, Ley said, neighbouring residents are able go for walks without fear and do not miss the “the smell, the yelling” or the drug-related activity. But neighbours do not feel out of the woods yet, she said.
“We are more relaxed and relieved, but we are extremely cautious and keep one eye open because of Mount Edwards Court.” The former seniors home at Rockland Avenue and Vancouver Street is home to 38 formerly homeless people.
Ley said neighbours want to see a “vandal-proof” playground designed to deter loitering on the courthouse lawn.
Eight-foot high wire fencing remains around the perimeter of the site, which is staffed by security around the clock.
The province said the process for deciding the site’s future use “will unfold in the coming weeks.”
“Once a site plan is determined, remediation, which will include soil removal and testing, will get underway.”
