Whitehorse 'purple cabin' to stay standing for now after judge pauses 90-day vacancy order

A home in downtown Whitehorse popularly known as "the purple cabin" will remain in place into at least 2025 after an appeal court judge hit pause on an order for the land to be vacated within 90 days. 

Yukon appeal court Justice Karen Horsman granted a temporary stay of the requirement on Friday, the latest development in an ongoing legal battle over the property between the territorial government, cabin-owner Len Tarka and tenant Eric DeLong. 

The Yukon government took Tarka and DeLong to court in 2021, successfully arguing that Tarka's lease for the parcel of land that the cabin sits on had expired and that he was no longer entitled to it. 

Tarka, in 1991, was granted a lease for the property at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Lambert Street valid for a term of "30 years or the life of the Lessee." While Tarka believed that meant the lease was valid for the rest of his life, the government argued that it meant the lease was valid for whichever time period ended first — in this case, the 30 years. 

Yukon Supreme Court Justice Karen Wenckebach, in a decision on Sept. 4, sided with the government, writing that while poorly-worded, the lease term was for a maximum of 30 years. She ordered Tarka and DeLong to vacate the land within 90 days, including removing all structures and personal property. 

Tarka and DeLong are appealing the decision and applied for a stay of the 90-day vacancy requirement. 

Horsman, in granting the stay, acknowledged that requiring DeLong to leave the purple cabin, which he's lived in since 2017, and for Tarka to either move the structure or have it destroyed pending the hearing of their appeal would cause irreparable harm. 

The 90-day timeline will now only come into effect after the appeal court hears Tarka and DeLong's case and issues a decision, which will not be until well into next year. 

Tarka and DeLong's lawyer, Vincent Larochelle, said his clients were pleased with the outcome.    "They're feeling obviously relieved, especially Mr. DeLong who lives there and who'd have had in the very short term to find, you know, alternate suitable accommodations, but Mr. Tarka as well, who has a very strong emotional tie with the purple cabin," Larochelle said. 

Dates for the hearing of the appeal have not been set yet, but Larochelle said he anticipated the case would be heard sometime in the spring or early summer.