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A North Vancouver man is asking the B.C. Supreme Court to order that a concrete block placed in front of his home by his district must be removed.
It’s the latest escalation in a years-long fight over the parking of a recreational vehicle.
Sui Kwong Lai says in a court petition that in June of 2025, District of North Vancouver staff came onto his Delbrook neighbourhood property without consent and installed a large barrier, after being tipped off by someone that he had just driven away in his RV.
The barrier was put at his property line on Shannon Crescent to prevent Lai from parking the 35-foot 2023 Newmar New Aire Class A Motorhome on a pad he specifically built for it, according to court documents.
Lai, a retired engineer, says he had the pad built in early 2023 after seeking guidance from district staff, and after reading the zoning and street bylaws that were referred to him by staff.
Lai says upon completion, a building inspector confirmed the pad complied with zoning bylaws, while at the same time expressing concern about the Turfstone Lai had placed on the district-owned “boulevard” to form a driveway to connect the street to his property.
In the months that followed, Lai says he was told by the district’s engineering department that the parking pad contravened both zoning and street bylaws. Lai told the district he disputed their interpretation of the bylaws.
According to the petition, the district sent Lai letters ordering him to remove the RV and “unauthorized driveway,” and warned that he was “trespassing” on the district boulevard.
Lai says he disputed each of the “many” tickets left on the RV, as well as the bylaw notices, all within the required time frame and according to set procedures. He says the district failed to adjudicate any of them.
According to the petition, the district sent an RCMP officer and three enforcement officers to attempt to tow the RV in April 2025. The petition says the operation was called off after Lai argued it was unfair to tow the RV until the tickets had been adjudicated.
Lowering property values?
On June 11, 2025, four of Lai’s neighbours attended a District of North Vancouver council meeting to complain about the RV and lack of enforcement. Wade Winkler told council that more would have joined in speaking out publicly, but for a fear of retaliation “having experienced aggressive or hostile behaviour.”
“We are now heading into a third summer with the oversized bus and the unauthorized second driveway in the front of the house and on public property in the middle of Shannon Crescent,” said Winkler at the time.
Neighbour Carol-Ann Hart told council the dispute had destroyed harmony on the street, while Mark Boden described Lai as “difficult,” the RV an “eyesore,” and claimed it was potentially lowering his property value.
In response, Mayor Mike Little apologized to the neighbours and said a municipal adjudicator was “looking at the infractions and assessing the legal validity.”
Chief Administrative Officer David Stuart told the neighbours, “We’ve been very lenient. We need to take action and we’ll do that in the next week.”
The petition says on June 20, 2025, a neighbour called — less than an hour after Lai and his wife had departed on a trip in the RV — to tell them that district staff had arrived at their property. The disputed driveway was removed and the large concrete barrier installed. Lai was later billed $3,000 for the work, according to the petition.
The petition says that through a freedom of information request, Lai learned that staff subsequently notified mayor and council and the “complainants” of “corrective measures” in the matter.
Lai is asking the court to conduct a judicial review of the district’s decision to remove the driveway and install the concrete barrier, arguing that they did not have the authority to do so.
He is also seeking a declaration that the district breached its duty of fairness, along with an interim injunction requiring the district to remove the concrete block and permanent injunction prohibiting its reinstallation.
A District of North Vancouver spokesperson told CBC News the district would not be commenting on the court action.
CBC also reached out to Lai’s lawyer to request an interview with Lai but did not hear back by deadline.
None of the allegations have been tested in court and the district has not filed a response.
