‘It’s home’: RV dwellers on Vancouver Island worried about possible bylaw change

Hundreds of people who live in RVs on Vancouver Island are worried a possible bylaw change could limit their stay.

A draft bylaw by the Regional District of Nanaimo would limit recreational vehicles to stays of six months, even in an RV park.

Robert Booth lived at the Jinglepot RV Park and Campground for about 12 years.

“It’s something that’s going to make it extremely hard for everyone around, because you get people that live in those areas that are on such a fixed income that when you take that away from them, the forcing to move, you’re just causing more troubles than you’re going to try and solve,” he told Global News.

“There’s no way that people like us could afford to live in a rental unit now. So it seems extremely unfair for the government to turn down and say, ‘You can’t do this now.'”

Booth said he thinks this is going to increase the homeless population, rather than help people get into homes.

“I cannot see the reasoning that they have for trying to do something like this,” he added.

“It seems to be picking on the smaller people. Again.”

The City of Nanaimo and surrounding areas have seen a huge spike in the homeless population, which totaled 515 people at the last count.

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That is a jump of nearly 19 per cent from the last survey conducted in spring 2020 and up nearly 200 per cent since winter 2016.

1:55 Residents of Chilliwack RV encampment told to leave

Steven Nielsen has lived at the park for about eight years.

He said the bylaw scares him.

“I pay the rent here, and I’m on a disability, and I can’t afford to pay any more than I pay,” he said. “It’s crazy. Yeah, rents are crazy.

“It’s home.”

Nielsen said he almost had to sleep in his car before he secured a spot at Jinglepot.

“I can’t think of anything better, especially in my circumstances. I can afford to live here, but I can’t afford to live anywhere else — basement suite or even an apartment. I’ve got a dog so what am I going to do? My dog is my family.”

2:17 RV park residents in Cowichan Valley say they’re being forced out by fee hikes

Emily Hemeon, the owner and operator of Brannen Lake RV Park & Campsite, said they have a lot of residents who stay during the winter months.

“This six-month rule could really impact those people and where they can go and how often they have to move,” she said.

“I think there’s a lot of people that live and work in Nanaimo, and there’s only so many campgrounds that they can move around between. So I think for those people, that could mean quite a long commute, potentially having to relocate out of town to stay, working in Nanaimo. And financially, that could really hurt people.”

The chair of the regional district is assuring residents that people won’t be asked to move on unnecessarily.

“We certainly don’t want to evict people unless there is real reason to,” Vanessa Craig told Global News.

“I would say we have heard their concerns loud and clear. They have been passionate advocates for their concerns, and all of the directors are aware of the issue.”

A staff report is expected later in June and that will inform changes moving forward.

This story has been updated to clarify that the new bylaw would apply to the Nanaimo Regional District, not the City of Nanaimo.