The City of Guelph no longer plans to pursue a bylaw regulating the use of public space in the city.
The announcement comes in a city report to council announcing that staff would no longer be coming to council with an updated on a proposed bylaw that included limiting where encampments could take place.
"Given the withdrawal of the appeal of the Kingston decision related to public space use, staff will be taking no further action at this time on the proposed Guelph public space use by-law.
In February, after hearing from numerous delegates during an hours-long special council meeting, council voted 10-3 to defer the bylaw until after an appeal court ruling was released and analyzed regarding a challenge of a similar bylaw in Kingston that was ruled unconstitutional through a Superior Court of Justice ruling.
But the appeal of that bylaw has now been withdrawn. That would leave any bylaw Guelph created also likely to be struck down by the Superior Court of Justice.
"Given the withdrawal of the appeal of the Kingston decision related to public space use, staff will be taking no further action at this time on the proposed Guelph public space use by-law," states the staff report prepared by general manager of operations Doug Godfrey.
"In consultation with our City legal counsel, staff feel that bringing back a public space use by-law would not be productive at this time, as in the absence of the Kingston appeal being heard, we have no new information to help guide City Council in their decision making process," the report states.
Staff were to come back to council with recommendations on the bylaw, taking into consideration the homelessness situation as well as the needs of the business community and general population "and ultimately finding the balance between the needs of all residents by caring for our community space and places."
A planned public feedback effort on the bylaw has also been shelved.
"Please note, however, that staff are developing a plan to conduct public consultation with those with lived and living experience as directed by the Mayor related to Temporary Structured Encampments (2024-B4), and that will inform future Council reports on this topic."
