Anger over City of Vancouver’s plan to relocate DTES market grows
Posted May 11, 2015 11:49 pm.
Last Updated May 12, 2015 6:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Almost 200 signatures are already on a petition against the City of Vancouver’s plans to move Downtown Eastside street vendors to a new permanent location near Oppenheimer Park. The proposal also turns what is now the Pigeon Park Market which only runs on Sundays into something that will operate daily.
Julie Zuccaro who owns Bloom Furniture on Railway Street is one of those people who’ve added their name to the fight to “Stop the Junk Market at 501 Powell Street.”
“It’s terrible, we’re trying to bring people to the neighbourhood and by just having more of this clutter in the neighbourhood isn’t a good impact. It’s bad for the local business.”
She says her shop has been broken into several times and expects it to get worse because of the street vendors. “We get broken into on a regular basis. We’ve paid a fortune to beef up security but they just keep getting in…They’re stealing things that they can actually sell at their flea market and now they’re actually going to be selling it every day?! The excuse they give that it gives them life skills is pretty pathetic.”
Zuccaro says she knows people who’ve had things stolen and found them for sale at the market.
Another business operator nearby says it doesn’t solve the problem of crime.
“All they’ve done is move the problem on one site to another, what was the point in moving it?” questions Barbara Williamson with Tritex Fabrics on Alexander Street.
She says the market impacts her business and doesn’t want to see it exist at all.
“If this was a legitimate market it would be one thing, but my concern is, where do these products come from? Is it just stolen from the people that live in the neighbourhood?” she adds.
The city is expecting to hold a public hearing on the issue.
