Stanley Park’s longest resident is being evicted after more than 30 years

The man who has lived in Stanley Park for more than 30 years is being evicted.

Vancouver Park Board crews spent most of Tuesday removing debris from Christenson Bailey’s forest home, where he has been set up since 1990.

Everything about Bailey’s campsite was simple yet functional when Global News first met him.

Most of it was constructed using old fishing nets and ropes discarded from nearby marinas. The layers of tarps kept it waterproof and he had a small wooden box for essential supplies such as flashlights, loaves of bread, and a charging pack for his phone.

To protect from the elements, he had a blanket and four sleeping bags — good for “20 below,” he said.

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The encampment took up less space than a camper trailer.

But Bailey is now in his 70s and Park Board crews say that Stanley Park’s looper moth infestation doesn’t offer him as much protection from the trees anymore.

“We had given the individual lots of opportunity to find space, and we’ll continue to do that,” Amit Gandha, the Vancouver Park Board parks director, said.

“But we had given notice that we needed to move on this. We’re talking truckloads and truckloads, where there’s going to be so much debris, and some of it, we don’t even know what the materials are, so we’re kind of going through that piece as well at the park.”

Housing options have been presented to Bailey over the years, but it is unclear at this time where he will end up living.

Bailey declined to speak on camera on Tuesday, but remained in the park to watch the dismantling of his long-term home.