Electric City discusses putting restriction on RVs on empty lots

Are recreational vehicles taking up city lots that could be used for houses?

That’s a concern officials at Electric City have.

At the Sept. 11 city council meeting, City Clerk Russ Powers brought an emerging issue to the council’s attention to see if they wanted to leave things alone, or take some form of action.

Currently, people can buy a lot and park multiple RVs on it, often just for a summer spot for people who like to fish or vacation in the area.

“Instead of buying a house or building a house, they’ll just create a lot with an RV on it that they can stay in for a few weeks,” Powers explained. People are allowed to stay in an RV for up to 30 days at a time, so they could technically leave for a day or two, and come right back.

Sgt. Gary Moore, present at the meeting to present the monthly police update, suggested that people could be doing this to circumvent the recent short-term rental ordinance the council enacted after complaints from citizens who live next to houses rented out to loud vacationers.

That ordinance forbids short-term rentals, but doesn’t forbid people from staying in multiple RVs on lots that someone owns.

The council voted to have Powers research and present possible zoning approaches that could address the issue in the city’s comprehensive plan.

“Right now the only thing I’m going to present them is a restriction on having an RV on a lot prior to a residence,” Powers explained in a later interview. “That would prevent someone from just putting an RV on a lot without doing anything with it.”

“The other one I might do,” Powers continued, “is even more strict — to see what [the council] wants to do — would be that you can’t live in an RV, period.”

Any ordinance would not be voted on until about March of 2019 when the comprehensive plan is reviewed and amended.

If passed, people who already live in RVs, or otherwise don’t adhere to whatever ordinance is passed, would be considered grandfathered in.