On June 30, the last RV on a private property in Roberts Creek moved off site.
Kayla Denis, a single mother who works as a plumber, was the last of eight tenants who lived in their recreational vehicles at 1220 Lockyer Road. She left after the Residential Tenancy Branch granted an order of possession to the property owner/landlord Jordyn Laxton in a June 7 decision.
Recreational vehicles at that site had been at the centre of a debate on non-conforming use in Roberts Creek last year. The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) chose to “wind down” RV use at 1220 Lockyer Road in May 2022.
An eviction notice was issued by the property owner, and two hearings were held before the last tenants left.
Denis was successful in a Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) hearing in late 2022, when she filed against landlord and property owner Jordyn Laxton that the first notice was not valid. The arbitrator’s decision upheld her claim.
The tenant then received one month’s notice on Jan 31. On May 26, another hearing was held.
“It took two RTB hearings and almost a year for her to lose her home,” legal advocate Ken Carson, who represented Denis, wrote in a July 3 email shared with Coast Reporter.
Of the eight RV tenants, all but Denis have left the Sunshine Coast, Denis said.
“There remain hundreds of trailer-residences on the Coast that are in contravention of SCRD by-laws,” Carson wrote. “Every day those tenants are at risk of eviction either by the SCRD or by landlords who know they have their tenants over the proverbial barrel.”
Denis had been seeking a year’s notice and compensation for the inconvenience of having to move. Carson, Laxton and the tenants previously asked the SCRD to approve a temporary authorization to continue having up to five occupied RVs at 1220 Lockyer Road for a maximum of three years. The directors voted to “wind down” RV use at the property within six months to one year before enforcement would begin.
A staff report from April 2022 stated if a compliance agreement cannot be reached between the SCRD and the property owner, or if the agreement is contravened, “ticketing, up to daily, would follow a period of negotiation in good faith.”
A May 24 email from the SCRD said bylaw enforcement notices have been issued, but “As these are active bylaw enforcement files, the SCRD is unable to provide any further details.” When asked if other enforcement efforts besides ticketing had been made, the SCRD said yes.
The proponent’s application and the SCRD’s decision were controversial, with then-Halfmoon Bay director Lori Pratt voting against the decision, citing the ongoing housing crisis on the Sunshine Coast. Others voiced their concerns with safety and contravention of the Official Community Plan (OCP).
The hearings
Last September, Laxton gave Denis five months' notice, citing his compliance agreement with the SCRD. In a hearing that November, Denis argued that the compliance agreement is not an order “but at most a precursor to an order.”
The arbitrator agreed, saying, "The compliance agreement does not refer to an order, use the word order or show that the SCRD has ordered the landlord to do anything. It is evidence of an agreement between the parties that the landlord will come into compliance with the bylaws regarding use of the property." The arbitrator ruled in favour of Denis.
The SCRD subsequently issued an order to comply, the district's communications manager told Coast Reporter.
Laxton then issued Denis a one-month eviction notice, which was upheld in a May hearing.
Moving on
For Denis, the last tenant to leave 1220 Lockyer, the latest hearing marked the end of her fight. When she left Lockyer on June 30, she moved her RV to a trailer park on the Coast but hopes that situation will be temporary.
Since the SCRD’s 2022 decision to not to go forward with the temporary use permit application, Denis has received her tickets for plumbing and gas.
“I have a good job, and I’m still in this position,” Denis said, expressing her concern for people who are less fortunate.
She disagrees with the SCRD’s concern for safety and following the OCP, and said “It’s very clear that there are so many other factors at play, and so many people who need a home… and people who are willing and able to offer that as an option.”
“If those people ever called me and wanted me to do something for them … to make their home more comfortable, I wouldn’t do it.”
Denis has decided not to pursue the matter further, and instead will be focusing on pooling resources with her partner to “try and get out of trailers and go forth and try to help other people the way we weren’t helped.”
Landlord files a lawsuit
Earlier this year, property owner Jordyn Laxton filed a lawsuit against the Sunshine Coast Regional District in the provincial small claims court. He said it is regarding the compliance agreement. A settlement conference is scheduled for Sept. 11.
On July 5, Laxton told Coast Reporter he will list the property for sale in the next month or so. He said he has no future on the property without “having eyeballs on everything I do” and he’s not interested in remaining in the community after people were forced off his property in a housing crisis.
The SCRD’s response
The “SCRD board made a decision to uphold the bylaws and regulations that were developed in consultation with our community,” the SCRD’s CAO Dean McKinley told Coast Reporter. “When it comes to Lockyer itself, the integrity of the landlord’s actions throughout the process of considering permitting the unauthorized use to continue on an interim basis, demonstrated to the Sunshine Coast Regional District that there was significant risk to public safety and the Sunshine Coast Regional District, resulting in the decision to pursue compliance.”
On July 5, McKinley said the situation is an active bylaw enforcement file that has not been closed. “The recent removal of the RV trailer is the result of enforcement actions unfolding.”
He also said more information about affordable housing on the Sunshine Coast will be coming in September as the SCRD board begins to renew the Official Community Plan.
“This process will apply an equity lens to the big issues our community must make decisions on including housing, climate and reconciliation. The key objective of Official Community Plan renewal is ensuring that every corner of our community has an equitable voice in helping inform policy actions that will guide the development of dignified housing solutions for all people that call and want to call the Sunshine Coast home.”
A series of reports on the OCP renewal is expected to come to the SCRD board this fall. Denis said she hopes the OCP will be reviewed, but she’s not optimistic about the outcome.
