Miranda Fatur
Langley Times Reporter
Efforts by outreach groups to help feed the homeless in Langley City have placed them at odds with the municipality over the past few weeks.
On Wednesday, Sept. 19, the gates to Rotary Centennial Park, at 208 Street and Fraser Highway, were locked by the City to prevent outreach workers, including Kimz Angels and the Langley Vineyard Church, from serving lunch to the homeless.
Before it was moved to Rotary Centennial Park, food distribution by Kimz Angels took place at the Langley Vineyard Church. But earlier in September, pastor Leith White announced on Facebook that outreach services on the church property were being put on hold in order to build better relationships between the church’s neighbours and homeless residents.
“We paused our services for six weeks. It’s an invitation to our community to help us help them. We want to work with the whole community in a positive way,” said White.
“On our church property we’re under a lot of scrutiny. Some of the challenges are that some (homeless people) don’t leave very quickly, and that causes collective anxiety within the community, because with that comes the issue of garbage and cleanliness.”
However, with services suspended at the church, White attended food distributions at Rotary Centennial Park with Kimz Angels and has allowed organizer Kim Snow to continue using the church kitchen for meal preparation.
White said while Kimz Angels and other outreach volunteers were handing out food at Rotary Centennial Park on Sept. 12 bylaw officers showed up and explained that the groups are not allowed to distribute food in the park.
The following week, the outreach groups returned to the park and discovered the gate was locked.
Francis Cheung, City of Langley chief administrative officer, confirmed the gates were locked on Sept. 19 because the outreach groups had distributed food at the park without prior approval by the City and were in violation of several bylaws.
“Unbeknowst to us, he (White) and Kimz Angels held a food distribution at the park. We got complaints from business owners and residents because all of a sudden we had about 50 to 60 people hanging around there,” said Cheung.
Cheung said White had notified him that food distribution at the church had been put on hold, but had not mentioned that food distribution would be relocated to a public park.
“You’re displacing the issues that forced you to close down the food distribution at your site. You’re just transferring to another neighbourhood in a city park. That’s not respectful, it’s irresponsible.
“We told them in a number of e-mails not to do it. Unfortunately, Kim and Leith didn’t comply with our instruction and held another food distribution without our approval. And that’s pretty disappointing,” said Cheung.
Snow said the City seemed prepared for the outreach volunteers to arrive at the park on Sept. 19 with several bylaw officers present.
“It’s always a hassle with the (City of Langley) bylaws. They don’t understand these people need a home, so we are not enabling them, we are helping to feed them for that day and connect them with Outlook or Stepping Stone and other organizations. They pick on the little people, which is us.”
Snow added it’s obvious that the City is trying to deter any outreach meal services.
“They were ready for us. And then they ticketed the Kimz Angels truck. They tried everything they could to discourage us, so we carried all the food to the park. We’ll find other ways,” said Snow.
Cheung said the City is concerned about food distribution happening in public parks because it contravenes bylaws, disturbs business owners and residents and publicizes drug use.
According to Cheung, food distribution at the park violated a zoning bylaw, a parks and facilities bylaw, a special events permit bylaw and a mobile vending bylaw.
“We advised them of that, and they didn’t comply,” said Cheung.
“Our message is not that they can’t distribute food, it’s that it needs to be served on their own property.”
The following day, Sept. 20, White said the park gate was once again unlocked.
Snow and White both said they plan to apply for park permits to allow them access to the park next week to serve lunch.
However, Cheung said getting a park permit is not a simple task.
“They can apply, but we are very hesitant of issuing special events permits. It’s not only the food distribution, it’s the aftermath. We are concerned that any site with food distribution could end up a homeless camp.”
White said it hasn’t been made clear to him what bylaw the groups are violating.
“I’m at a loss,” he said.
“The two comments were, ‘You should go back to your own property,’ and ‘You can’t hand out food at a park,’ which seems very contradictory to usual park activity.”
On Monday, Sept. 24, White was handed six tickets from the City for three offences on Sept. 12 and three offences on Sept. 19. The tickets describe the infractions as a public gathering without a permit, an unauthorized mobile vendor and unlawful land use. The total cost of the tickets is $800.
White said he will bring the tickets to a lawyer.
In the meantime, White and Snow said they plan to continue to hand out food at the park.
“It was peaceful, people ate and it was a great gathering. The park was clean, we weren’t making a statement in any way, other than we want to help feed some people,” said White.
White confirmed food distribution at Langley Vineyard Church will resume on Oct. 17.
