A drive through northeast Calgary will yield many things — light industrial buildings, fenced-in lots and planes flying overhead, on final approach to YYC.
But for residents of ‘Moraine Motorhomes,’ the side of Moraine Road NE has also become their home.
“Living in my motorhome… I keep to myself, I mind my own business,” says Victor LaRock.
LaRock’s motorhome runs and drives, but has also been outfitted with solar panels, wind power, a wood stove, and many other elements that bring the comfort of home to his four-wheeled residence.
It’s even the address on his drivers licence.
But for LaRock and the eight other RV owners along Moraine Road, their future is up in the air.
The latest threat to their unorthodox home came on Wednesday, when City of Calgary officials dropped off a notice on the windshields of the RVs and the owners’ personal vehicles parked nearby.
“They’re going to put up a temporary (no parking) sign which they’re going to start to enforce within 24 hours… and within 15 days they’re going to be putting up the permanent signs.”
It’s far from the first time LaRock has been threatened with eviction from the street he’s called home for a decade.
“I’ve gone to court, I’ve done the legal things. They’ve given me 21 tickets; I still have four coming up that I have to go to court for, but I’ve actually gone to trial three times. All the other tickets have been withdrawn.”
“I add security to the neighbourhood because I have active surveillance cameras,” LaRock continues.
“Both the police and the business owners around me love me.”
Calgary’s city bylaw states, “An owner or operator of a recreational vehicle for which the vehicle registration shows a City of Calgary address must not park the RV on a street in the City, except in the area of the street immediately adjoining the owner or operator’s place of residence.”
It also states residents can only do that for 36 hours at a time.
“Despite multiple attempts to gain voluntary compliance, we just haven’t been able to achieve it,” explains Todd Sullivan, the leader of Parking Patrol and Investigations at the City of Calgary.
“In order to clear up some of the ambiguities in the bylaw itself, the decision was made to change it to a ‘no parking zone’ to make it clear and simple for anyone who’s using the area to know the restriction zone.”
Sullivan also told Global News there are other spots in the city similar to Moraine Road, but this one in particular has been on their radar for quite some time.
For as long as the past 10 years — or in the case of David Dockrill, just a month — the residents of the nine motorhomes on Moraine Road have been united by a desire to deal with an increased cost of living.
“It’s my one-bedroom apartment,” Dockrill says.
A 25-year resident of Calgary, he chose to join the community when faced with a significant rent increase earlier this year.
“They were raising (the rent) from $1,200 to $1,500, from $1,300 to $1,750, and those places aren’t worth that.
“The cost to run the little house I was living in was almost $700 a month in utilities.”
LaRock says he’s in a similar situation.
“I only make $800 a month on (Canada Pension Plan Disability). I was a truck driver for 25 years. Living in the bunk of a truck and going into a RV — this is a condo in comparison.”
Despite the attachment to the area, residents are willing to move if they can maintain their unique way of life.
“I’ve even told them, ‘look, tell me where to go and I’ll go today. All you have to do is tell me where to go.’ They have no places for us to go, they have no solutions.”
But before it comes to that, LaRock, Dockrill and their neighbours want to continue to call Moraine Road their home.
“None of these guys really have a voice,” Dockrill says.
– With files from Sarah Offin