A Willow Ridge homeowner is requesting that the Town of Black Diamond change its land use bylaw to allow him and his neighbours to park their RVs in their front driveways after being visited by a peace officer two weeks ago.
Glen Fagan said it came as a shock when the officer arrived at his door to inform him that the Town’s land use bylaw doesn’t allow the parking of recreational vehicles (RVs) in front-yard driveways in areas zoned R1C (pertaining only to the Willow Ridge and Riverwood subdivisions) due to their small lot sizes.
“Obviously complaints must have been made,” Fagan said. “The community norm has been to park recreational vehicles in your frontyard for many years. I’ve been parking mine on my front-yard driveway seasonally for the last six years without complaints.”
Fagan, who served as Black Diamond’s mayor for a year after winning a byelection in 2016, said he submitted a letter to the Town June 8 requesting that council amend the land use bylaw to allow RVs in front driveways in the two subdivisions during the warmer months, so long as they don’t extend over sidewalks, curbs or front lawns.
Having no back lane, Fagan said there is nowhere else to park his RV while at home during the camping season. He said it’s stored off site during the colder months.
“In the summer months it is recreational time and I like to come and go as I need to,” he said. “A large portion of the community does something similar. Some leave theirs year round.”
Another amendment Fagan is requesting is to extend the length of time RVs can park on the street from 24 hours to 48.
“I don’t think 24 hours is adequate,” he said. “It should be 48 hours to allow for seasonal preparation of your RV. It’s not really impacting my neighbours.”
Fagan said he is unaware of the land-use bylaw ever being enforced when it comes to RVs.
“If you’re going to have a bylaw it should be enforceable and have tighter guidelines,” he said. “I hear a lot of people won’t be moving their trailers off until the bylaw has been ratified.”
Sharlene Brown, Black Diamond chief administrative officer, said the Town hasn’t put much energy into enforcement, and that people have parked their trailers in their frontyards without issue from the Town for many years.
If the Town chooses to enforce the rules, Brown said the development authority and protective services would send a letter to the property owner stating they have 14 days to remove the trailer or a stop order would be implemented. Brown said people can appeal it under the preview of the subdivision appeal board.
While enforcement hasn’t occurred to Brown’s knowledge, she said residents have attempted to convince council to change that portion of the land use bylaw twice since it was implemented in 2004.
“Both times, in 2012 and 2016, council and the development authority have not changed their stance on the parking of trailers in those subdivisions,” she said. “The citizens are asking for that again and we’ll put that in front of council and see what happens.”
Brown said the restrictions were put in place for the Riverwood and Willow Ridge subdivisions as a result of the small lot sizes.
“The side yards are only four metres apart from each other, not leaving enough room for safety concerns and visibility to allow trailers to park in the front,” she said.
Brown said the Town received a number of concerns in the past month about RVs parked in front driveways, which will be brought to town council’s June 17 meeting, as well as Fagan’s request for an amendment to the land use bylaw.
“Council can make a decision on how they want to proceed,” she said. “Many municipalities do not allow parking of recreational vehicles in the front. You can load and unload your trailer, there’s allowances for that, but parking and storage of vehicles in the front is not allowed in many municipalities.”
Brown said sending peace officers to residences in the two subdivisions was the first step in responding to the concerns.
Senior peace officer Jim Berry said the focus was on education only when he and bylaw officer Dillon Cranston conducted a one-day blitz on May 29 informing residents about the rules.
“We knocked on the doors and talked to about 20 to 30 people,” he said. “We were just giving them the information.”
Berry said the information came as a surprise to some, and not to others.
“It was well taken by the community,” he said. “There were some that weren’t happy, but everyone was polite and understanding. I really appreciated that.”
Following the blitz, many of the RVs were removed from front driveways, Berry said.
