I am writing this letter to Langford council and the Goldstream Gazette, pointing out the eyesore along Goldstream Avenue from the Colwood border to the Priory.
On any given day or night, you can count as many as 20 trailers and other recreational vehicles parked on the south side of Goldstream. This has been going on since 2020. During the pandemic, I was informed that city hall would likely be a little more lenient for these alternative housing options. However, it is now getting worse and worse every day.
The majority, if not all, of these vehicles are not owned by neighbourhood residents. Most are occupied as primary residences, resulting in always having garbage laying around: TVs, vacuum cleaners, discarded plastic containers and general household waste. The abandoned bus stop by Vantilburg is a popular place for this household waste to be dropped.
Tarps are being hung between RVs and the Colwood Golf Course fence. Engines and generators are running. It looks like an old “dog patch” from long-forgotten decades in Langford’s past.
To all the bleeding hearts and softies, as well as to the people in a position to do something about it, I ask you to please think about what you would say if you were subjected to this outside your front door for the last 3.5 years. Enough is enough. The current bylaws are having no effect whatsoever. The bylaw officers put a sticker on the windshield and tell the owners to move, which some do and some don’t. After 72 hours, they may simply move 100-200 metres down the road and carry on again as they were.
I suggest to the mayor and council that you consider passing a bylaw stating that RV or commercial vehicles are not permitted to park overnight and violators will be towed at their own expense. As a community, we have put up with it long enough and have given them free parking for the last 3.5 years. It is time to move for good.
Ralph King
Langford
