Motorhomes on Calgary’s Moraine Road are staying despite permits expiring

RV owners on Moraine Road say they are staying put despite their temporary permits allowing for an extended stay expired Thursday.

Temporary parking permits were issued to the motorhome owners in September. Some have been there for years due to a lack of affordable housing.

The City of Calgary initially told the owners they had to leave due to road construction, but now that date is to be determined as the weather is monitored.

Victor LaRock, who has lived on Moraine Road the longest, says they aren’t sure what’s going on but will continue to fight until they have a reasonable place to go.

“Nobody told us it was an eviction notice. They said it was a permit and they said we don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of the permit, whether it’s going to be renewed, or whether we’re going to have a solution, or what’s going to happen,” he told CityNews.

He says Calgary Parking Authority officials showed up two days before the permit expired, telling the owners they had 48 hours to vacate.

“All we are trying to do is survive.”

The City of Calgary tells CityNews given the current weather conditions they will not be carrying out road maintenance as planned.

However, it says the RV owners should still plan to move immediately and “be ready to do so on short notice.”

“While there is no formal deadline, work will resume as weather allows, and the special permission to use the space is no longer in effect,” the statement reads.

Ward 10 councillor Andre Chabot would also like to see the RVs moved.

“Ideally, we don’t want them to be parked on the street. We don’t want people living in their RVs on the street, it encourages that sort of behaviour. We don’t think it’s an appropriate use of our streets,” he said.

Chabot also noted potential safety issues.

“It’s a dangerous location, the road is not designed to accommodate people parking on one side and have heavy truck traffic going in both directions on the same road,” he said.

“It doesn’t work.”

Chabot has suggested a possible new location for the RVs; it’s another industrial zone yet to be fully developed.

Frustrations are mounting for LaRock and he says he would just like to be left alone.

“The only thing we have asked for is to be left alone, to survive and maybe come up with the solution for us to get off the street. That’s it. We haven’t asked for any handouts whatsoever,” he said.

For now, the RV residents say they will just have to wait and see what’s next.