The city of Abbotsford heads to court today (Friday) to call for homeless protesters to vacate a structure erected overnight on McCallum Road Wednesday.
The walled structure was built in a city parking lot next to the homeless protest camp that previously spent more than 50 days in Jubilee Park.
The city issued notice on Thursday to remove the structure by 6 p.m., as it was constructed without a permit on city property and those occupying it are trespassing under the municipality's bylaws.
The notice called for residents to cease their occupation of the parking lot, complete no further construction and to dismantle it.
Pivot Legal Society lawyers, who are representing the homeless, obtained an order in Vancouver on Thursday that prevented the city from enforcing the notice that was posted until a hearing in the B.C. Supreme Court on Monday.
But today, the city will ask for an order for the homeless residents to vacate the wooden structure.
Monday's hearing is for a previous application by the city, calling for protesters to leave their previous site in Jubilee Park.
The city served the Jubilee Park camp with an eviction notice Nov. 25, calling for it to be cleared within 48 hours. After they did not leave, the municipality applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction for the homeless protesters to clear out of the park.
The notice of claim called for the court order to include all other city parks, as well as authorizing police to arrest and remove anyone not complying with the order.
The hearing proceeds Monday morning in the New Westminster courthouse.
Katherine Jeffcoatt, the city's manager of communications, said the notice against the new structure will become part of the city's application for injunction to the courts, which will call for the structure and tents to be cleared from parks and city land.
Pivot Legal Society will represent the homeless protesters in the hearing Monday.
The city has closed Jubilee Park and the adjacent parking lot to the public, citing safety concerns.
More to come at abbynews.com