Homeowners surrounding Berczy Park near Barrie's downtown are expressing concern at what they say are tents that have returned to the local greenspace after evictions were carried out recently.
On Saturday morning, a reduced number of tents could be seen throughout the park, with some still occupied.
Barriers that closed off public access on Friday were lying face down on the ground.
About seven of 20 new temporary emergency spaces in Barrie’s shelter system were being occupied by former Berczy Park residents as of Friday morning, said Busby Centre executive director Sara Peddle.
The City of Barrie closed Berczy Park, where a controversial homeless encampment had been located, last week and police have issued trespass notices to some of those who would not leave the downtown park.
Peddle said all of the 20 emergency spaces were occupied as of Friday.
The Busby Centre, located not far from Berczy Park at 88 Mulcaster St., is a not-for-profit organization that advocates for and improves conditions for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, or at risk of being homeless, in the Simcoe County, including Barrie and the southern Georgian Bay area.
Living next to a homeless encampment where fires frequently occur has caused “immense distress” and fear for one family residing next to Berczy Park.
“Our fence, which is directly attached to our home, already caught fire once due to one of these incidents, and the thought that it could happen again is terrifying,” area resident Natasha Finbow told BarrieToday on Friday.
She recently spent nearly $100,000 on a privacy fence surrounding her large property adjacent to the park.
“The fire that did occur not only damaged our fence but left us in constant anxiety knowing we are vulnerable and unprotected,” she added.
“Now, with a new tent popping up right beside our property, the fear lingers, as the threat of another fire feels inevitable.”
On Friday afternoon, the park was again closed off to the public with barriers blocking the pathway.
A city crew was seen cutting and removing brush in front of a collection of tents in a wooded section of the park. Those tents remained in place as of Saturday.
Cole Wilkes, 24, who has lived nearly all of his life in the Berczy Park area on Peel Street, was walking his dog on the sidewalk adjacent to the park early on Friday morning.
“I have a mixed view on this, at the end of the day,” he told BarrieToday.
“I know a lot of these people don’t have anywhere to go. At the same time, nobody here can enjoy the park, right?”
He used to walk his dog through the park every day, but doesn’t anymore.
“Most of the people in there, they are not bad people, but I don’t want to step on something,” he said, referring to drug paraphernalia.
“In a way, I am kind of glad,” he said of the recent evictions, “but I hope they have places for these people.”
Meanwhile, Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall said he supports the County of Simcoe’s efforts to relocate the park’s inhabitants.
“The county is leading the help there to find a place for folks who are experiencing homelessness, and perhaps addictions, perhaps mental health concerns, and so we are certainly supporting the efforts the county’s brought forward,” Nuttall told BarrieToday on the sidelines of an event just outside city hall on Friday.
“When I look at parks around the City of Barrie — especially those that are within 200 metres of schools — parks are for kids. And I say this all the time — and I’ll continue to say it — that I’m not going to put the trauma of adults ahead of the innocence of children,” he added. “At the same time, we need to make sure that we have the services available for adults to be able to choose a different life, and until recently, those haven’t been available.”
Wilkes, who sympathizes with the homeless encampment dwellers in Berczy Park, noted his own struggles to keep a permanent roof over his head.
“Personally, one of the big problems is they don’t have enough cheaper units for people,” he said. “Thousand-dollar-a-month bachelor apartments just aren’t a thing anymore. It’s all just big houses for full families. I work two jobs and I can hardly afford rent.”
He said he currently pays $1,000 per month for rent, which is half of the overall rent cost he shares with his mother in a nearby apartment complex.
He said he had an apartment, and the reason he is back with his mom is because he used to pay $2,200 per month, which was everything he was making at the time.
“I can pay the landlord, but I can’t really afford to eat,” he said of his financial struggles at the time.
He had only one job back then.
“I basically had to pick up another job in order to have any kind of savings or anything nice or take a girl out,” he said.
