The increasing number of complaints in 2021 about people living in recreational vehicles in undesignated rural areas in the Cowichan Valley Regional District is raising concerns.
At the CVRD’s electoral areas services committee meeting on Feb. 2, a year-end staff report on bylaw enforcement in the district’s nine electoral areas indicated that of the 62 zoning complaints received in 2021, the majority were about people illegally living in RVs.
But Ian Morrison, director for Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls, said he thinks the number of complaints the district received in 2021 is just a fraction of the actual number of people living in RVs in the electoral areas outside locations where they are allowed.
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“In social media, I’m seeing lots of adds not only for people encouraging folks to park their RVs on their property and pay a pad-rental fee, but also people putting adds in looking for those opportunities,” he said.
“We’re having an affordable housing crisis and I think it’s getting worse.”
Rob Harris, a bylaw enforcement officer in the CVRD who wrote the report, acknowledged that the district is only aware of the cases that have been reported to bylaw enforcement.
“It’s a complaint-driven system and that’s what we’ve captured as far as our investigations go,” he said.
“But people living in RVs is on the increase, that’s for sure.”
As for other zoning complaints, Harris said the CVRD’s zoning regulations are extensive and the nature of the calls are wide ranging, including non-permitted suites, structure setbacks and non-conforming home-based business activities.
Overall in 2021, the district’s bylaw enforcement department investigated 298 complaints in the electoral areas, up from 247 complaints in 2020, representing a 20 per cent increase in investigations.
A total of $6,065 in municipal tickets were issued for a variety of violations, including dog control, burning, soil deposits, fireworks, noise and park bylaws.
There were 58 complaints made about contamination in recycling bins in the electoral areas last year, the second highest category of the bylaw complaints received.
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Harris said in his report that the increase in complaints regarding recycling contamination is attributed to a coordinated effort between bylaw enforcement and the district’s waste-management department with the goal of reducing recycling tote contamination.
He said this resulted in bylaw officers attending residences with CVRD staff for ongoing residential contaminated tote issues.
“Preliminary results from waste management indicate tote contamination is decreasing, but not yet to the extent that was anticipated,” Harris said.
While there were 29 burning complaints in 2021, making the issue the number three complaint, they were down considerably from the 61 burning complaints received in 2020.
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“Bylaw enforcement speculates the reduction may be attributed to CVRD public notifications regarding alternatives to burning, and residents recognizing potential health concerns associated with poor air quality within the Cowichan Valley,” Harris said.
There were 22 complaints related to official community plan matters, including unpermitted buildings in riparian ones, 20 animal control complaints, 18 about unsightly properties and 18 noise complaints.
There were also 13 fireworks complaints in 2021.
There were 35 fireworks permits issued last year, with the majority associated with Halloween, and 10 permit applications denied.
Comparatively, in 2020, 48 permits were issued, three complaints were received and six permits denied.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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