Calgary city councillor Peter Demong said proposed new rules for RV storage on neighbourhood driveways is just “poking the bear” in fostering community conflicts.
Members of the Community Development Committee shelved rule changes that would have allowed the storage of RVs on residential driveways, provided it’s at least one meter from curbs and sidewalks. It also cannot create a sightline issue on a corner.
People storing RVs could do so from May 15 to Sept. 15, according to the proposed new rules.
Currently, Calgarians can park an RV on their front driveway, or on street in front of the owners’ property for 36 hours, year-round. The new rules would prohibit RV parking in other seasons unless they were being loaded or unloaded.
According to the city, they receive roughly 300 complaints about RV parking annually. Enforcement of current RV parking rules is currently complaint-based. According to the city, approximately 20 per cent of Calgarians own recreational vehicles.
“There isn’t a large volume of complaints about the current rules, nor is there a particularly large volume… either in support or against,” said Greg Patrick, business strategist with the City of Calgary.
Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian said that the current rules are restrictive, and these new rules could have struck a good balance. Plus, she said it offered an affordability aspect that can’t be achieved on property taxes.
“If we allow for some flexibility in the rules, we could actually save hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars for some people, which is just by changing this rule,” she said.
“When you think about how hard you’d have to work to try and lower taxes for people to get that same kind of value, I mean you can’t even really compare the two.”
Impact on new communities: Coun. Demong
Ward 14 Coun. Peter Demong said enabling the proliferation of long-term stays for RVs on “postage-stamp” driveway locations was a recipe for increased neighbourhood conflict.
Older communities have two or three metres between driveways, Coun. Demong said, allowing for plenty of room for safety and visibility. In new communities, it’s two to three feet.
“You start letting these RVs sit all summer, that’s a major problem we’ve got coming forward,” Coun. Demong said.
“I think this is basically poking the bear with regards to the neighbour-on-neighbour conflict, that we’re seeing that we as council seem to enjoy doing to our Calgary citizens.”
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Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said that she wasn’t sure what the amendments to the bylaw were aiming to accomplish.
“I have not heard any demand from my constituents and Calgarians more generally for these changes,” she said.
“So, I think what we saw last year that even support on council was pretty lukewarm at best.”
Questions around the increase in complaints and issues around enforcement were also problematic for some councillors.
Ward 10 Andre Chabot said that he’d had lots of complaints about excessive RV parking in front of neighbourhood homes. He said from a self-serving perspective, he’d be inclined to support it.
“I’m just not sure that we need to go this far,” he said.
While the item failed, it was moved ahead to Calgary city council as a failed motion. It could be overturned and approved at that time.
Coun. Mian said it was important for councillors to hear from Calgarians on this issue before a final decision at that meeting.
“If Calgarians have strong feelings one way or the other about RVs and how long they should be allowed on people’s property, they have time to let their councillor know,” she said.
Mian also refuted councillors who claimed that perhaps committees shouldn’t exist if a decision could just be overturned at council.
“I think the better question is what is the point of Council. Council is the final body to make all decisions, and we consider what a committee says but it is not the final body,” she said.
“If that was the case, you’re going to allow only half of your councillors to make decisions for the entire city and that’s not right.”
