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Eight arrested as officials clear campers from Pandora Avenue boulevard

The police tape is gone and all the tents have been cleared from Pandora Avenue after Victoria police enforced an evacuation order of the street on the weekend.

The police tape is gone and all the tents have been cleared from Pandora Avenue after Victoria police enforced an evacuation order of the street on the weekend.

Blue fencing remained on the boulevard on Monday, marking off the area where people had been living in crowded tents since an informal camp popped up amid the pandemic.

Victoria police arrested eight people Sunday as the last campers in the area packed up their belongings.

Officers are authorized to enforce an evacuation order issued by Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth that required campsites to be removed from the Pandora Avenue corridor and Topaz Park by May 20.

B.C. Housing said more than 340 people had been moved into hotels and other facilities by the deadline.

VicPD said in a statement that police officers, bylaw officers, B.C. Housing staff and social services staff gave “every possible opportunity” for campers to leave without arrests.

The eight people arrested were taken to Victoria Police Department headquarters and their property will be held under a Victoria bylaw. VicPD said everyone arrested would be given instructions on how to retrieve their property.

Police and bylaw officers remained on the street into the evening as what appeared to be the last camper packed up her belongings to leave.

Dennis Jenson went to Pandora Avenue to help his friend pack up and give her a ride to her hotel room. The woman declined an interview.

Jenson packed his car full of his friend’s possessions, but much of it couldn’t fit in the vehicle. Jenson said the items would be impounded by bylaw officers and his friend would have 30 days to retrieve her things.

“I was going to come back for it, just keep making trips, but they want it off the street right now,” he said.

Jenson said police officers were acting aggressively and impatiently while people packed up and threatened to make arrests if people crossed police tape, which had been put up to section off portions of the block.

“Just push, push, push and not allowing us to have time to actually do what we need to do to collect our stuff up,” he said.

Jenson praised one bylaw officer’s patience while his friend and others gathered their things from the area, saying she had been helpful during the past several days as the street was emptied.

Jenson is living in his car and has his name on the waiting list for a hotel room but doesn’t know when he might get indoors.

“The amount of people that are on the list is insane,” he said. “I’m just waiting for a phone call.”

Jenson was also helping another friend move his belongings to Beacon Hill Park, where people will be allowed to camp for at least another month without having to pack up every morning.

Victoria bylaw officers are not enforcing overnight sheltering rules at Beacon Hill until June 25 at the earliest to ensure people have a place to isolate during the pandemic. The man had been camping on Pandora Avenue and Jenson said he had nowhere else to go but the park.

“That’s where they pushed everybody, is Beacon Hill Park. That’s where they said everybody can camp. For how long, who knows?” Jenson said.

Grant McKenzie, communications manager for Our Place Society, said he had hoped the departure of campers would not become a police matter. People have been given options to leave the area, he said. B.C. Housing has partnered with Our Place to operate the Comfort Inn and Suites as a temporary shelter. The province purchased the hotel in mid-May for $18.5 million.

“Everyone has been approached. Everybody has been offered housing elsewhere, but some people have chosen not to take those offers for a variety of reasons.”

regan-elliott@timescolonist.com