It was when Carol Cooper’s husband was out for a walk that he first noticed the mess. When she heard about it, she deicided to drive by later that day and couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“There was a huge tent and my husband thought there was someone sleeping in it at night,” describes Cooper. “There was debris all over the park in at least three different spaces and then they started hauling things down to the St. Marks dumpster.”
What was thought to be a possible encampment in Marlborough turned out to be piles of garbage. It all came from a nearby home with several eviction notices in the windows, where garbage continues to pile up in the backyard, but it was the move into the nearby park that really concerned Cooper.
“It was June 17th I made the first call to 311,” says Cooper. “We went away for a week and when we came back, we drove by, and it was still there.”
Cooper says in addition to the tent and general debris, there were bikes and other personal belongings. She says it was three weeks before the mess was cleaned from the public spaces, and only after she was told by multiple agencies, including bylaw and police, that there wasn’t anything they could do about it.
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“Once you start with one thing like this it leads to another, and another like its normal and you don’t want a mess to be normal.”
In a statement to Global News, the City of Calgary says an investigation into the property where the mess originated is on-going. “While this is not classified as an encampment, it involved an unsightly property where personal belongings were left in a nearby park following an alleged tenant eviction,” the city added.
The statement goes on to say Calgary Parks has been called for cleanup and Calgary Community Safety is monitoring the area.
Meanwhile, Calgary Police Service says it’s received 12 calls for service in relation to potential encampment, including reports of unwanted guests and suspicious activity. CPS says no incidents have met the threshold for criminal investigation at this point, however officers are working closely with Calgary Community Safety to address concerns.
After the area councillor, Ward 10’s Andre Chabot, was made aware of the situation he went to check it out himself. He forwarded photos to the chief bylaw officer asking for someone to address what he calls “this very problematic property.” And while it is outside of his jurisdiction, Chabot believes housing insecurity can play a role in situations like this.
“The city is putting property tax dollars into affordable housing, I don’t know how much more we can do other than to continue to work with other orders of government to make sure we provide more,” says Chabot, adding council is working with the private sector on a number of housing initiatives.
Chabot says disputes under the landlord-tenant act fall under the provincial government, which it outside municipal jurisdiction, however, says public messes like this are bylaw infractions and will be dealt with through 311.
Global News reached out to the homeowner who wasn’t available for comment.
As for Cooper, she’s glad it’s cleaned up now, but says the more it happens, the more negatively it reflects on the neighbourhood she’s called home for 52 years.
“We take pride in our neighbourhood, we try to take care of our neighbours if they need anything… it’s a community so we want to keep it that way.”
–with files from Global News’ Skylar Peters
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
