The City of Victoria is set to give bylaw officers more say in throwing out impounded property and wants to halve the amount of time people have to reclaim their seized items.
New bylaws up for adoption on Thursday (Dec. 14) will update what staff called outdated regulation on how it impounds, stores and disposes of property “unlawfully placed” on public sidewalks, streets and parks. The city said it’s currently sending five to 10 tonnes of impounded property to the landfill every week.
That figure includes an appalling amount of people’s items being thrown away, especially during a climate emergency, according to the Backpack Project’s Niki Ottosen.
“These things are not illegal property seizures, they are peoples’ belongings, they’ve been purchased by the people that need them and donated by community members, businesses and non-profits who are all trying to help,” the homelessness advocacy group’s operator said.
“The city is throwing it away as fast as we can get it out there.”
The new bylaws – which were unanimously approved by councillors on Dec. 7 – promise those experiencing homelessness won’t have to pay to reclaim life-sustaining property like tents, sleeping bags, waterproof clothing and more.
But Ottosen argues it’s inhumane that councillors greenlit plans to continue the seizures when they know adequate housing is not available for those who have to haul their belongings with them everywhere they go.
“I’m helping a woman right now who’s in desperate need of housing and every time bylaw throws her things away, it sets her back,” the homelessness campaigner said.
“Where can these people go safely without having their belongings taken from them, where can they go when they wait for the pathway to housing.”
The changes, which aim to deter items being left in public places, also give staff more discretion to throw out material that’s clearly “rubbish,” hazardous or bulky. That will help reduce the volume of what’s collected as staff will no longer have to impound, transport and document the items, the city said.
The bylaws make no reference to extreme weather and Ottosen said there should be an exemption to impounding rules during those events.
“We’ve heard of people’s belongings being taken from them before an extreme weather event and then the event happens and they’re left with nothing, and that’s simply inhumane,” she said.
The city plans on holding items for 14 days before discarding them, down from the current 30-day timeline. The city says most people who reclaim their property do so within a week and the 30-day holding period puts pressure on storage space, which creates more work for staff to manage.
A report on the changes noted a disproportionate amount of staff time is spent impounding a few individuals’ property and it cited one person who’s had their things seized 100 times over 15 years. Ottosen – who said unhoused individuals and groups who serve them weren’t consulted on the changes – called on council to find new solutions instead of using one person’s case to justify more enforcement.
“We can point to one troubled human being or we can look to the bigger picture.”