A Temporary Use Permit (TUP) application was granted to Hollie’e Golf Course at the March 13, 2024, Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) board meeting to establish a 35-site RV campground for temporary accommodations on the Alberni Highway in the District of Cherry Creek, Vancouver Island, BC.
This site was previously granted a 22-campsite 3-year TUP in May of 2017 but had to close the site in June of 2022 evicting all campers from their dwellings. Some, according to owner Heather Powell, had nowhere to go but to the Walmart parking lot.
The RV campsite will be open for both long-term stays, temporary seasonal accommodations and overnights.
There are 23 conditions Powell needs to fulfill before re-opening her site to the now extended 35-site campground on the two-acre lots – plus “a $10,000 bond so adherence to the conditions be held,” according to Planning Dept. Manager Alex Dyer.
The TUP has taken a long time to be dealt with. According to owner Powell, “in 2017 it took six weeks to process. This application took years. All other Vancouver Island Regional Boards take from six to eight weeks to process TUPs.”
According to Powell, she did submit a rezoning application and paid her $5,000 application fee, “But they never moved it forward.” The staff just recommended she get a second TUP and then apply for rezoning.
The ACRD does not disclose rezoning applications that residents can peruse to see where and how their files are being processed. Other Island Regional Districts do have on their websites the filing of all applications being processed. However according to Director Fred Boyko, “the ACRD is working on producing a site that will allow residents to view their applications.” It is still in the process.
It has been a trying situation for Hollies Golf Course owner Heather Powell. During 2020, when she should have applied to renew her TUP, SCRD office was closed, correspondence withered, communication was almost non-existent and most of the world was turned upside down with the pandemic.
No eviction notices were allowed even if people did not pay their rent. People were scared to get close to anyone. The world was in turmoil and a renewal contract was easily missed.
Hence, later in the year, the SCRD staff contacted her to renew and Powell obliged and paid her fees and applied for a renewal. Not a rezoning as the staff had urged her.
The amount of RVs had increased on her allotted RV campground portion of her property but without being able to evict anyone, and with people having no place to park an RV, Powell found it difficult to say you cannot park your unit here. This turned to a difficult situation but Powell worked hard to find other rental spaces for some of the tenants but not fast enough for the SCRD staff and voila, they gave her notice to vacate all tenants.
Sadly, all RV renters had to vacate and the site was cleared. Many were then seen at the Walmart parking lot.
But, Powell now has a new TUP which will allow her 35 RV Units on her property – a welcome addition for the homeless RV dwellers.
It seems that the government system is more interested in bringing down the hammer than working with the taxpaying establishments. You do not follow the rules to the letter – pay the price. But who is paying the price – the people living in their RVs cause they cannot afford a home that get displaced and stressed even during a pandemic?
Where has the compassion gone? Displacing over two dozen residents because one forgot about a renewal during a pandemic? Is there more that meets the eye as I cannot contemplate the reasoning for the evictions. In a homeless crisis, the local government adds to the escalating scale of uncertainty.
It seems, in my opinion, that the government is no longer working with the people who pay their salaries but are working for policies dictated that have no warrant.
It is good to see that Hollies can again open their doors and help the homeless crisis with at least a place to park for a while. – Charlaine Lacroix, Port Alberni
