Those visiting Vancouver’s parks will be allowed to consume alcohol in selected green spaces again this year, as the city’s park council unanimously approved another pilot project Monday night.
Like last year’s program, the 2022 plan allows drinking in 22 parks from June to October.
This time, however, the city is changing the signs in the parks, identifying where drinking is not allowed, instead of choosing small spaces where it is. This means that some parks will have significantly larger areas allowed for alcohol use.
Drinking will not be allowed within 20 meters of a playground or school, or within five meters of a swimming pool or water park. Areas where consumption will not be allowed also include swimming pools, car parks, docks, sports fields, toilets, play and boarding fields and dog-free areas.
Vancouver County. Sarah Kirby-Jung said the constant approval of drinking in parks “took a long time”.
“I think this has been happening for most of the term on board Vancouver Park,” she told CTV News Vancouver.
“During this time we could almost build a community center. If you think about the fact that it takes a few years and other cities seem to be moving forward with it quite easily and much faster than Vancouver and I think it’s time. “
Commissioner Camille Dumont told a meeting Monday night that the park council must “do the right thing”.
“I think there have been decades of banning alcohol in parks, and if it takes several years to do it right, in a way that is fair and just, and I hope it focuses on reducing harm and minimizing the negative impact,” then it’s okay, “he said. .
The park’s board has been considering this issue since December 2018, when staff were first asked to conduct a feasibility study for a pilot project. An initial proposal was presented in July 2020, as people were encouraged to gather in the open and at a distance to prevent the spread of COVID 19. This proposal was rejected as only 10 sites were identified.
Employees were sent back to the drawing board to devise another plan that included parks in each neighborhood. The list of 22 parks was finalized last year.
As the 2022 program is just another pilot project, the issue will have to be re-examined before the park council with a full report before it becomes permanent.
These are the updated areas with permitted alcoholic beverages for 2022:
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