Chatham-Kent council will have at least two motions to mull over at next week's special meeting to address issues with a new encampment in Chatham.
Council will weigh motions from Mayor Darrin Canniff and mayoral candidate Michael Bondy Monday night.
Canniff is proposing the following:
The current encampment protocols be amended to require encampments be 100 metres away from any private property line with a habitable residence.
Administration continues to work in collaboration with R.O.C.K. to engage with individuals and prioritise them for services and housing as they become available.
Administration voluntarily transitions as many homeless individuals as possible to the new transitional cabins program, thereby diminishing the number of people in encampments.
Administration actively pursues all options to reduce and end encampments in Chatham-Kent, including, exploring opportunities to immediately deliver permanent supportive housing, increased shelter spaces, and increased transitional cabins.
Administration explore local housing options that could be quickly converted into supportive housing and report back on feasibility and costs.
The current encampment protocols be amended to include a provision that there is to be no more than one tent per person and that all personal items, except a bicycle, be stored within a tent.
Increase the frequency of garbage collection at encampment sites.
Administration hire additional temporary by-law officers to enforce these amendments and report back with recommendations on numbers and costs.
Chatham-Kent police install CCTV cameras where required at the sole discretion of police.
Canniff said encampments are neither safe nor acceptable forms of housing for any community member and Chatham-Kent does not have the necessary supports, housing, or services needed to adequately house and support all Chatham-Kent residents in need.
"Chatham-Kent has spent a significant amount of money in providing accessible options for emergency housing, yet the systemic causes of homelessness continue to be unresolved by the provincial and federal government, leaving municipalities across Ontario unequipped to adequately respond to this crisis," Canniff said.
Bondy is proposing the following:
Temporary shelters be permitted to be erected on municipal lands from one hour before sunset to one hour after sunrise by any person experiencing homelessness. Temporary shelters shall be subject to guidelines pertaining to location, size, and other guidelines that may be adopted by the Mayor, Council, or Administration.
No person may use, occupy, maintain, place, erect, or construct, or cause to be or used, occupied, maintained, placed, erected, or constructed, a shelter, tent, building, or other structure on municipal lands except as permitted in the guidelines listed above, by permit; or by the authority of Council.
A peace officer, a bylaw enforcement officer, a police officer, or any authorized agent of Chatham-Kent for this purpose may remove, seize, and impound or cause the removal, seizure or impoundment of any property or thing that unlawfully occupies, or has been unlawfully placed or left on municipal lands.
Bondy said a similar approach in Hamilton was successful in banning daytime encampments and Sarnia also used the Hamilton approach to remove their permanent encampments.
Bondy said this potential policy balances the rights of individuals to have temporary overnight shelter and the rights of the public and the municipality to enjoy public lands.
"I believe that this policy will encourage persons experiencing homelessness to seek other available options which may provide more support and more safety than a permanent homeless encampment can provide. It will also help distinguish between persons who truly have no other option and persons who are choosing the permanent encampment option over other options available to them," said Bondy.
The municipality noted the total number of people experiencing homelessness in Ontario has increased by 25 per cent since 2022; the number of people experiencing homelessness has increased by 94 per cent in Chatham since 2022; and Chatham-Kent currently has 1,396 households waiting an estimated eight years for affordable housing.
Provincial funding for the Homeless Prevention Program remains frozen at 2023 levels, said the municipality, adding that the Association of Municipalities of Ontario has forecasted that homelessness will double in Ontario without significant additional actions.
Council unanimously approved the current encampment protocols in November 2024.
The new encampment is next to the Public Utilities Commission property on Grand Avenue East.
A petition demanding the relocation of the new camp has gathered thousands of signatures. Many of the concerns being raised through the petition revolve around drug use and its proximity to homes.