Community Forums

NeilV · 12-09-2006, 07:19 PM

We received an educational notice in the mail yesterday from the city informing us that we can no longer park a camping/utility trailer, boat or motorhome on our properties if it extends past the street side of the dwelling. This is a change from just being restricted from parking with any part of the RV/Trailer extending into the street side parking. We have 10 days to comply in moving the motorhome to beside the house and not extending past the front or off the property. This is going to be tough to accomplish in this time frame especially when the property/fence lines are 96 inches from each side of the house and the MH is 102 inches wide.

This is part of a city beautification program. Guess what else, the storage lots are now full and the prices have gone through the ceiling. I wonder if the fines will be cheaper than the storage fees? Most likely not. It looks like we have just been hit with a $100+ a month problem or possibly the loss of the RV if we can't meet compliance day. Of course they sent the notice in the mail instead of knocking on or leaving it in the door, so it came while we were at work on Friday and we now have to wait until Monday to talk to someone about the possibility of a varience or extension. This is not published in the municiple code and will not show up in a code search unless you already know the ordinence number and then you get linked to a document that is not part of the municiple code database.

Oh well.

NeilV · 12-09-2006, 07:19 PM

We received an educational notice in the mail yesterday from the city informing us that we can no longer park a camping/utility trailer, boat or motorhome on our properties if it extends past the street side of the dwelling. This is a change from just being restricted from parking with any part of the RV/Trailer extending into the street side parking. We have 10 days to comply in moving the motorhome to beside the house and not extending past the front or off the property. This is going to be tough to accomplish in this time frame especially when the property/fence lines are 96 inches from each side of the house and the MH is 102 inches wide.

This is part of a city beautification program. Guess what else, the storage lots are now full and the prices have gone through the ceiling. I wonder if the fines will be cheaper than the storage fees? Most likely not. It looks like we have just been hit with a $100+ a month problem or possibly the loss of the RV if we can't meet compliance day. Of course they sent the notice in the mail instead of knocking on or leaving it in the door, so it came while we were at work on Friday and we now have to wait until Monday to talk to someone about the possibility of a varience or extension. This is not published in the municiple code and will not show up in a code search unless you already know the ordinence number and then you get linked to a document that is not part of the municiple code database.

Oh well.

Gary the Wombat · 12-09-2006, 07:55 PM

Something similar to this happened where I used to live in CA a couple of years ago. Many RV owners went to city council meetings protesting the unfairness of this ruling just because a few people thought RVs were "unsightly". The overwhelming nukmber of RV owners that attended meetings eventually persuaded the council that this was an unwinnable ruling, and they dropped the whole thing. Perhaps you could locate others in your predicament and attend local city meeting to protest the ruling. After all, it is your property!

ruppr · 12-09-2006, 07:55 PM

Neil,
You need to ge FMCA and Good Sams involved. Both have good support to help you with trying to offset this change.

Best,

Jimbo8264 · 12-10-2006, 03:11 AM

This link will give you some resource to start your fight.
http://www.goodsamclub.com/parkRights/index.cfm

DonavonP · 12-10-2006, 06:14 AM

Lady Bird Johnson Syndrome(LBJS) seems to manifest itself in small municipalities and there's no cure.

Good luck to you Neil. I hate seeing this happen to one of our good guys on IRV2 particularly one that enjoys the ambiance of the Aladdin Lamp

Maybe if you let us know where you are in the US (roughly) maybe someone would give you a temporary slot until you can find a new home for yourself or your MH.

chasfm11 · 12-10-2006, 08:57 AM

Neil, there is a thread on RV.Net about your situation. Here is an excerpt from a post by AO Hitech. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> The case is known as City of Euclid v. Fitzthum, et al., 48 Ohio App. 2d 297,357 N.E. 2d 402 (1976), cert. denied 429 U.S. 1094, 51 L. Ed. 2d 540 (1977). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

According to his post, the Euclid case started in Ohio and was reviewed by both the Ohio Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme court, essentially saying that cities don't have the right to restrict RV parking for "beautification" purposes, only health and safety.

May a little research by you and an off-line discussion with your city solicitor might cause cooler heads to prevail.

I feel for you, man. Any of us could be in your shoes tomorrow. We certainly seem to be on the downhill side of homeowner rights with some of the recent imminent domain decisions and cities are expanding restrictions on RVs as part of that type of thinking.

Mike (KC9IPV) · 12-10-2006, 12:46 PM

Wow! I think that even if they can get away with the ordinance 10 days is an unreasonable amount of time to become compliant. You might also point out to the city council about the storage prices going up. Most citys/states have laws against raising prices to take advantage, like raising hotel room prices during a huricane evacuation etc.

Good luck.

BigRedLancer · 12-11-2006, 02:51 PM

They tried the same thing in San Jose, CA. Reality struck when the council was informed that there were insufficient parking spots for all of the registered MHs in the city. Even if we agreed to comply, there just was no place to put them within a 100 mile radius of the city. The city council decided to drop the issue.

I would contact your local council member and see what you can do to stop this insanity.

obiwan · 12-12-2006, 05:46 PM

We bought our first bus on 11/04, 31 days later we received a letter from the HOA telling us that we cannot have our bus parked on the city street, yes the one our tax dollars helped pay for.

So its off to try and find a $100 a month parking spot.

Makes me want to move out of the city limits on a chunk of land where they have little ability to tell you what you can't do.

Rich & Zara · 12-12-2006, 10:21 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by obiwan:
Makes me want to move out of the city limits on a chunk of land where they have little ability to tell you what you can't do. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Wouldn't that give reason gives into maybe buying a very small piece of land just to store the RV?? ...and not having to pay someone else for the storage?? I'm beginning to feel very fortunate having an RV pad with utilities ...it came with with the house without having thoughts of using it for its purpose ...we changed our minds after 4 years.

Rich

chasfm11 · 12-13-2006, 02:54 AM

Rich, that is what some of us did. We sold our house in one town and bought another with one of the major considerations for the new one that we could park our RV. I double checked with my city.

What is happening is that the cities are coming back and creating ordnances without any grandfathering that restrict RV parking. It is one thing to voluntarily sign CC&Rs with limits on RVs and another to have established provisions permitting RVs to be revoked. I've learned that there is no such thing as a "reasonable period" for compliance with city ordnances - they always want compliance to be immediate. If I actually wanted to store my RV in one of the storage lots here, it would cost $150 per month or more. More important, it would take away my ability to get to it anytime that I want and to work on it as I please.

I personally believe that it will take a groundswell of public discontent before the trend on RV restrictions is reversed. I just don't see that groundswell coming anytime soon.

Gus Weber · 12-13-2006, 05:09 AM

The Ohio Supreme Court has now held that appearance cannot be a criterion of zoning laws - safety, etc. of course can be. While this would only currently apply to Ohio, I think you can make an argument that any state will eventually decide that way.

It sure was time for this!

Good luck - Gus Weber

NeilV · 12-13-2006, 12:08 PM

I finally had the code reviewer get back to eme and got an extension to January without a penalty or fee. I found that I was a victim of a "vigilanty enforcer" a self apointed code enforcer that finds fullfillment in their lonely lives by driving around other peoples neighborhoods looking for something to complain about. They are not even sure if this person is local to the city. But he made his daily anonomous tip and this time I was his target. The only option they are offering if there is no room beside the house, and there is not, would be a fence the total height of the motorhome. Of course a 12 foot high fence is against the building code so the option is not a valid one. A good samaritan has offered the use of his side lot until other arrangements can be worked out.