Volunteers in Prince George, B.C., vow to continue building tiny homes, despite city's warnings
There are still about 60 people on the waitlist for tiny homes, say volunteers
Volunteers are working in snow and gusting winds to finish building shelters for residents of a homeless encampment in Prince George, B.C.
And they say they won't stop construction on the insulated tiny homes, even as the city issued warnings that it is illegal to build and occupy the structures.
"It's pretty awful, mean ... Do they want us to freeze, or what?" said tiny home resident Nikita Teegee while standing in the blowing snow on Thursday, the windchill making it feel like –10 C.
"This should be encouraged ... it's hard to get into housing and we're people, too."
Last week, bylaw officers posted red and yellow signs on Teegee's door warning that the structure is illegal. Both the stop-work and do-not-occupy notice warn that further construction is illegal without authorization from the city — though both the mayor and a city spokesperson say there are no current plans to enforce this.
Either way, Teegee says she has no plans to move out of her newly built tiny home and the people building them say they have no plans to stop.
WATCH | Tiny home construction underway:
Homes provide safety and security: Volunteers
Brad Gustafson, a contractor by trade, is helping lead the construction efforts, designing shelters tall enough to stand in but small enough to heat. He says they are not a perfect solution, but provide more protection than a tent or tarp.
"The three criteria are safety for their person, security for their belongings, and insulation for their warmth," he told CBC News. Gustafson is self-employed and says he's spending about 30 hours a week at the encampment, known as Moccasin Flats.
About eight volunteers are working to build the shelters, which have wooden frames and are lined with insulation.
Another lead volunteer, Phillip Frederiksson, says they can't wait any longer for various levels of government to find appropriate housing for the roughly 50 people living at Moccasin Flats.
Frederiksson is helping with construction and has been running an online fundraising campaign that has raised more than $6,000. He plans to build as many homes as possible using the funds.
"It feels pretty amazing. It proves to me that the community wants something done here and that they don't, unfortunately, have faith in the city to take care of it."
Court-protected camp
The Moccasin Flats encampment won court-protected status in 2021 when the city lost a bid to evict the people living there.
In his ruling, Chief Justice Christopher E. Hinkson said the city had failed to prove there was adequate shelter space available for the encampment residents, noting that many existing shelter spaces are inaccessible for people living with mental health disorders and addiction.
In September of this year, the city removed another encampment in the downtown area, telling residents to seek shelter space or move to Moccasin Flats, which it called a "designated temporary overnight sheltering area."
This move followed a decision by council to adopt a centralized encampment model as a way to control where people are allowed to sleep. In adopting the bylaw to support the model, council also defined the type of structures that could be built at Moccasin Flats. According to the definition, shelters must be temporary and portable, built with materials including nylon, plastic, or cardboard. The wooden, insulated structures being built do not fit that definition.
Mayor Simon Yu, elected last year, campaigned in part on a call to build emergency shelters for unhoused residents in the city. But Yu also voted in favour of the bylaw that prohibits such shelters, a move he admits makes fulfilling his campaign promise difficult.
"According to that definition, [the allowable structures] cannot survive the winter ... We cannot violate our own bylaw, on the one hand. On the other hand, if people are living [at Moccasin Flats], then we have a safety issue here," he told CBC News.
"And if necessary, bylaws are just a piece of paper. We can change that."
Both Fredriksson and Yu also said they have plans to meet to discuss how to allow the project to move forward, with Yu saying he admires the work being done by the volunteers and their desire to help people in need.
However, Yu says the city needed to issue the stop-work and do-not-occupy notices in order to protect themselves from liability in case of an accident, injury, or death as a result of the construction, since the encampment sits on city property.
But Fredriksson says the notices have had other consequences, as well.
"People see these notices and immediately the community at Moccasin Flats thinks that they're not going to be receiving a tiny home that we've promised. And on top of that, all of our donors that have been donating ... It's put fear in them."
He says he's noticed donations have slowed down in the week since the city posted the orders.
Gustafson says the group is seeking legal council to help navigate the tension.
"I actually believe we have legal standing to continue, so we're going to keep building them and we will see how this all works out."
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