ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: October 17, 2001
Author/Local: Bob Ross

RTS No. 02360

CC File No. 2251

P&E: November 8, 2001

TO:	Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM:	General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT:	Grant to `Save Our Living Environment'

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council approve a grant of $50,000 to Save Our Living Environment (SOLE) for supplementary cleaning of sidewalks, lanes and public spaces in the Downtown Eastside in 2002, as outlined in this report, with funding provided from the Solid Waste Capital Reserve.

COUNCIL POLICY

City Council has previously approved three environmental grants of $50,000 each (in June 1998, October 1999, and February 2001) to SOLE for micro street and lane cleaning in the Downtown Eastside. The source of funds was the Solid Waste Capital Reserve.

Approval of grants requires eight affirmative votes.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council's approval for SOLE to continue for twelve months its very successful program of supplementary cleaning of public spaces in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). A grant of $50,000 (which will be matched by others) is requested from the City.

BACKGROUND

Save Our Living Environment (SOLE) is a non-profit urban environmental group active in downtown Vancouver. The Society sponsors several projects, including `United We Can' and `Crossroads and Lanes' at 39 East Hastings St., two self-sustaining enterprises that focus on caring for the urban environment, while also creating income and job training opportunities for people of the inner city.

In each of the past three years, Council has approved a $50,000 grant to SOLE for micro-cleaning sidewalks and lanes in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). In the latter two years, SOLE then obtained matching funds to provide a $100,000 program, which was expanded this year to cover approximately 43 blocks and several parks. The program is regularly monitored by City staff, and is very effective in supplementing the Sanitation Department's daily street cleaning in the challenging DTES area.

The program employs residents from the inner city and DTES with barriers to traditional employment, giving them valuable job-training and enhanced self-esteem. This program also encourages community pride and a more responsible attitude towards public spaces among residents, property owners, workers and visitors. By keeping the area cleaner, it is hoped that people will be less inclined to litter.

PROPOSED GRANT FOR 2002

The amount of garbage and litter that is deposited on streets and lanes in the DTES is far greater than elsewhere in the city. There are many reasons for this, including:

· a large number of premises have no formal garbage disposal arrangements
· the drug and sex trades create litter from discarded drug paraphernalia, etc.

· street people pull garbage from dumpsters and litter containers, while searching for food and commodities to sell
· there is, generally, a lack of stewardship of the public spaces by adjacent property owners and the community.

While there are some property owners in the DTES who are very conscientious about keeping the public areas around their premises clean, the Engineering Department's Sanitation Branch and the Park Board provide a much higher frequency of cleaning services on DTES streets, lanes and parks than elsewhere in the city. In addition, the Vancouver and Richmond Health Board also pays a number of agencies to perform needle-sweeps in the DTES.

But these cleaning activities are still insufficient to keep the DTES streetscape acceptably tidy on a consistent basis. The grant which the City has given to SOLE in the past three years has been used to supplement these cleaning activities in the public realm. United We Can has been very effective in cleaning up the smaller or more frequent items of litter, such as cigarette butts, bottle caps, drug paraphernalia and condoms, as well as litter which accumulates in abandoned entranceways and private alcoves.

Furthermore, the Gastown and Chinatown BIA's hire United We Can to do regular cleanups of public property in their areas. The higher level of street and lane cleanliness that results from United We Can's activities is believed to be creating incentive for merchants and property owners to pitch in and help keep the public spaces around their premises tidier.

For 2002, SOLE is again requesting a civic grant of $50,000, to be used on an expanded program for cleaning public spaces in DTES, as follows:

· micro cleaning of sidewalks
· supplementary lane clean-ups

· litter pick-up on public spaces on private property adjacent to lanes and sidewalks (building setbacks, entranceways, alcoves, loading bays, vacant lots, etc.).

In the past two years, SOLE has obtained matching funds from the Provincial Government and private foundations, to provide a total of $100,000 for this public spaces cleaning program. This year, SOLE will again solicit matching funds.

SOLE's cleanup program provides a very effective contribution to the cleanliness of the Downtown Eastside. It complements the City Sanitation Branch's street cleaning program by providing a level of `micro-cleaning' under and around parked vehicles, garbage containers, in alcoves etc. which the City's mechanized equipment cannot do as efficiently. There is no question that without SOLE's efforts, the Downtown Eastside would be messier and more unattractive.

CONCLUSION

Recognizing the considerable benefits of this public spaces cleanup program to the City and to the DTES, in terms of cleanliness and employment training and opportunities for inner city residents, it is recommended that a grant of $50,000 be given to SOLE for 2002. The source of funds would be the Solid Waste Capital Reserve. The DTES Policy and Core Staff Committees, as well as the City Manager, support this recommendation.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver