As more and more so-called “van lifers” are setting up their homes on wheels in parking lots in the mountain town of Canmore, officials are looking at the option of setting up a seasonal parking option for them.
The “Vanmore” concept has been growing over the past year and a half, as people have reported not being able to afford to rent or buy homes in the resort town. Instead, they live in vans and campers in various town parking lots, much to the chagrin of some Canmore residents.
In May, in an attempt to appease all parties, the town enforced a two-hour parking ban each day from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. to discourage people from repeatedly parking overnight and offer some reprieve to people looking for spots.
Now, city staff have been tasked with coming up with a more concrete solution, which will likely come in the form of seasonal overnight parking.
The proposal was brought to Canmore town council earlier this month, marking the end of a months-long outreach and assessment project the town took on get more information on the “van life” mentality.
Outreach worker Travis Reynolds spent the summer researching a number of factors and compiled a report that looked included an analysis of the rental market, a survey of 135 local businesses, and a review of similar communities like Squamish and Banff.
Town council unanimously voted to direct staff to develop a program that would offer the van lifers safe seasonal overnight parking, but it’s not yet known what that parking option would look like or how much it would cost both the town and those who choose to set up shop there.
The plan is expected to be presented to council in December for consideration.
Parking ban enforcement
Peace officers have been consistently monitoring the downtown parking lots since the two-hour morning ban took effect on June 5.
The average number of daily parking lot dwellers was 40 in June, 50 in July and 44 in August — spread out across four parking lots: a gravel lot, Save on Foods, Home Hardware and Elevation Place, according to the report.
As of the time the report was written, 154 tickets had been issued to vehicles that abused the parking ban in the gravel lot.
When the parking ban was enforced on the gravel lot, it forced many of the van lifers to pick up and move elsewhere — many to the nearby Home Hardware lot, leading the store to put up “No Trespassing” signs, issue “No Parking” notices and ultimately put up a fence, which caused people to move out completely.
Some dwellers also set up in the parking lots of Save on Foods and Elevation Place, which increased after the fence was put up in the Home Hardware lot. A small few were also seen at other locations throughout the town, including streets and other smaller parking lots.
Harvie Heights, Exshaw and Alberta Parks lands also saw an increase in the number of people that parked and slept overnight in their vehicles, Reynolds wrote in his report.
Renting in Canmore
The report found that there was an average of 48 rooms for rent in Canmore in July and August, along with an average of 15 one-bedroom apartments and 42 two-bedroom apartments. Reynolds wrote it wasn’t clear if they were available for short-term, seasonal rentals or for one-year terms.
The average rent for a bedroom in a home in Canmore is $854.98, for a one-bedroom apartment it’s $1,497.25 and the average rent for a two-bedroom place is $1,967.44. Those numbers have been relatively consistent for the better part of the last two years, the report said.
The report said that based on the Town of Canmore’s living wage calculator, a single individual making minumum wage — $15/hour — and working a full-time, 40-hour workweek, can’t afford more than $1,000 a month in rent.
“This is a conservative estimate of how much an individual must earn to cover expenses, while still maintaining a decent standard of living. Results from the business survey suggest that some vehicle dwellers working in Canmore earn more than minimum wage,” Reynolds wrote.
“Yet, a one‐bedroom apartment would still be beyond their means. Living in their vehicles provides a way to be independent (i.e., to live not with roommates or in shared accommodations), while still being able to enjoy life in the Bow Valley.”
Reynolds also noted that some people working in the front-line service industry don’t have predictable schedules or consistent full-time work, meaning “if someone earns more than $15 per hour, their total monthly income may not be enough to afford accommodation.”
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