An RV is parked outside a home in Ucluelet, B.C. Courtesy of Mayco NoelMayco Noel/Supplied
For more than a decade, Andrea Fruehwirth has had a plot of land in the small Vancouver Island community of Ucluelet sitting empty. The Whistler, B.C., resident planned to build a home to eventually retire or work seasonally from, but the financial part of the picture hasn’t fallen into place.
As the seaside town faces a housing shortage, like so many other B.C. communities that revolve around tourism, she also hasn’t been able to let van dwellers or people living in recreational vehicles make use of her land. She wasn’t even allowed to use her own camper van on the property because of bylaws around zoning.
But that’s set to change as the municipal government introduces a new pilot project to help formalize van dwellings and allow homeowners or businesses to rent out spots to people in fully serviced vans or RVs – something that remains illegal in many B.C. towns.
The program is aimed at giving seasonal workers a way to live in the community as vacancy rates plummet and rental costs rise in the town of fewer than 2,000 people.
“When this project came out, I thought it was very much needed,” said Ms. Fruehwirth, who has worked in Whistler’s food and hospitality industry for more than two decades. “For people like us who own the land and have owned the land for 13, 14 years, it is just sitting there. If it can be used by a business to house seasonal workers, why not?”
Many B.C. communities in vibrant natural settings have faced pressure in their housing supply in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated that as remote workers look to flee lockdowns and cramped quarters in cities such as Vancouver or Toronto.
Local businesses have suffered as they find it difficult to attract workers when rents are high and wages are low. The city hopes the program will help businesses retain staff during the pandemic’s current third wave so they’re prepared for an eventual opening later this summer.
The pilot project allows either landowners or businesses to provide the van or RV dwelling in their yards or empty lots, or for people who already live in vans to use their own home on the property.
Some Canadians have already taken to living in vans as they work seasonal jobs in B.C. communities including Revelstoke and Kamloops, where rent is often too expensive relative to low wages in tourism-related jobs.
Ucluelet Mayor Mayco Noel said municipalities have their hands tied when it comes to tackling the housing crisis in B.C., since they don’t have the financial freedom to spend on big housing projects.
But he said Ucluelet’s plan to expand housing with no real development costs will hopefully be a win-win situation.
“We’re the ones who have to run a balanced budget and we’re struggling. If we had access to capital, then maybe we’d have apartment buildings being built in town, but it’s not structured like that,” said Mr. Noel.
The city’s plan also takes steps toward easing the strained relationship between people with homes in the community and van dwellers, who sometimes get a bad rap because of the grey zone they live in.
“People would wake up in the morning and there’s a guy urinating on your lawn or brushing their teeth and spitting it out, and that’s disrespectful to our residents,” said Mr. Noel, who said bylaw officers do their best to move people illegally living in vans out of the community..
Mr. Noel said it’s important to differentiate between roaming “van-lifers” and people who’ll be living in a van temporarily as their only means of housing while working for local businesses.
Ms. Fruehwirth pointed out, though, that many of the people who get moved out of town by bylaw officers end up camping on backroads. She believes that some of those people are seasonal workers who’ll benefit from Ucluelet’s program.
“It is already happening absolutely everywhere. It’s happening in Whistler on service roads in the middle of nowhere and there are fires being made,” said Ms. Fruehwirth.
While tenants aren’t specifically required to be seasonal workers, the pilot project only allows a minimum stay of 30 days to prevent people from trying to profit from pricy short-term rentals. The city said staff will be keeping an eye on Airbnb and local classifieds pages to ensure that people aren’t misusing their permits.
Safety components and neighbourhood consultation are also a large part of the pilot project, which requires the fire department to ensure dwellings are safe and for property owners to talk to their neighbours about any concerns. Mr. Noel said landowners will also have to provide water and electricity hookups at the least. The vehicles also have to have a functioning washroom, otherwise landowners need to make a washroom available in their own property.
Applicants will have to pay a $350 fee, and the city is hoping to approve applications within weeks and minimize any red tape to make the process seamless.
Other municipal governments in B.C. facing similar problems to Ucluelet say they’ll be watching closely to see whether the six-month pilot project is successful or faces challenges.
“The biggest challenge most small municipalities face is that we come up with various bylaws, but at the end of the day they’re left to the goodwill of the public to support them,” said Nelson Mayor John Dooley, whose city also faces intense pressure in its housing market. Local classified pages there will sometimes have van dwellers asking if property owners would allow them to live in their yards, despite it being illegal.
“We just don’t have the resources to constantly roam around and check on everything,”
He also pointed out that the program comes with risks for residents in the van dwellings, since it’ll be up to landowners in some cases to maintain the structure and ensure that it’s kept safe.
Mr. Dooley said his city has opted to instead focus on laneway homes and secondary suites as a way to build density in the community and ease pressure on the housing market.
However, he said the city could be interested in van dwellings in the future if the program is successful.
In Squamish, B.C., where city officials almost passed a blanket ban of sleeping in vehicles last year, Mayor Karen Elliott said her local government will also be watching closely.
“We look forward to following along with Ucluelet’s pilot project to learn from its successes and challenges,” said Ms. Elliott in a statement.
Mr. Noel in Ucluelet said even a handful of new homes being added would make a major difference for Ucluelet’s businesses, and said there have already been applications for more than two dozen van dwellings. The applications are set to be reviewed by council in early May.
“If this can add another 24 beds or people, that’s a big win for a small community of 2,000 people,” he said.
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