It’s the end of the road for a group of people camping out in RVs and vans along Goldstream Avenue.
Glenn Edgeworth and about a dozen others living on the side of the busy road woke up Sunday to find a notice from the City of Langford on their windshields saying they have to be gone by Monday.
The city says the move is necessary for what it calls “remediation work” on the 400- and 500-blocks of Goldstream, and the campers won’t be welcomed back.
It’s a gut punch for 61-year-old Edgeworth, who is suffering from late-stage colon cancer, arthritis and emphysema and living on a small disability pension.
He said he lost his apartment after a “renoviction” that doubled his rent in 2018, and had to give up his job as a painter after his cancer diagnosis six years ago.
After he lost the apartment, he had his daughter co-sign for a secondhand 24-foot trailer and started a vagabond lifestyle, living in his camper on farms, campgrounds and even a church parking lot for a time.
“I feel like I’m getting kicked out of my hometown … I’ve lived here all my life and this has been a good home for me. For the first time in a while, it’s felt like home — now they’re telling me to get out,” Edgeworth said this week.
Edgeworth said he’s tried to live peacefully on the side of Goldstream for the past year with his two cats, moving every three days, emptying his trailer toilet at a sanitation dump and diligently depositing his garbage.
The area of Goldstream Avenue between Vantilburg Crescent and the Colwood border has been lined with recreational vehicles since the start of the pandemic, and complaints about the campers have been pouring into Langford city hall from neighbours. Bylaw officers have made frequent visits.
A city spokesperson said the remediation work includes cleaning up garbage and hazardous materials — including human waste — and removing vegetation. The city said that once work is done in early July, recreational vehicles will not be allowed to park in the area.
The statement said the city has been taking an increasing number of complaints from residents about “deteriorating conditions,” including human waste and garbage, noise disturbances and the increasing number of recreational vehicles coming from other municipalities.
But Edgeworth claims that in his time on Goldstream since the beginning of last summer, he’s seen none of that. “I’ve never seen people dump their poop or throw their garbage out the door,” he said. “Why would we do that?”
The city said it needs to balance public health and safety with compassion for those who need housing, and called on the province to work with social services and affordable housing providers to find places for the displaced campers to live.
“Everyone deserves access to safe shelter, hygiene facilities and a sense of stability,” the statement said. “Living in a recreational vehicle on the side of the road is none of these … it reflects the failure of a broader system to meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable community members.”
The city is suggesting other locations for recreational vehicles, including Goldstream Provincial Park campground, the Capital Regional District’s Island View Beach campground and the private campground Fort Victoria.
The spokesperson said staff are also willing to assist in making connections with housing service partners to help people transition to more sustainable housing.
But Edgeworth said some of the public campgrounds, like Goldstream and Island View, only allow stays of a maximum of 14 days per calendar year. Private campgrounds, meanwhile, are pricey and, in some cases, allow only six-month stays each year.
Fort Victoria’s website is currently advertising a rate of $80 a night plus GST, although it says discounted weekly and monthly rates are available from Oct. 1 to June 1.
Edgeworth said those rents would exhaust his disability check, leaving little money for food and other bills. He said farmers and people with rural or larger properties are also reluctant to rent out space because of bylaws, which are complaint driven in many municipalities.
He said those camping along Goldstream are just people who don’t have homes — “we’re not junkies, we’re not crackheads, we’re not bums.
“We’re just trying to do the best we can.”
“I knocked on one guy’s door today along Goldstream. He’s an older fella. He is reaching out to the door and his hand was just shaking like crazy, so he’s got serious health issues. He’s just a guy who doesn’t have a home and he’s living in a van.”
Edgeworth said he will be scouting around the region for alternative sites to park, but wants to stay close to help care for his elderly mother, who lives in View Royal, where he visits with her and helps with chores like buying groceries.
“I’ve never been the type of person that had to ask for help,” said Edgeworth. “I was a painter for years. I worked hard. I enjoyed my job. I loved my job. I wish I could still do it. But my entire life I’ve seen people parking along here and now they say ‘get out.’
“I feel like a helpless piece of garbage left on the side of the road.”
