Can't Park Your RV in Your Yard? Try An RV Parking Condo

It's just the answer that all those municipalities who want to ban residential area RV parking are looking for: An RV parking condo. Metro Phoenix developers have their number--buy yourself a deeded RV garage to house your motorhome for as little as $90 a square foot.

Sid White and Harrison Gentry built their first RV parking condo in 2003 in Peoria--it's sold out. So they're aiming for a couple more: One in Chandler called "Sun Lakes Big Boys Toys," goes before a planning commission meeting in February; another in Apache Junction goes before a final vote of the city council in January.

They're nothing fancy, mind you: Just a place to lock up your RV with an electric hookup. While there are dump stations and wash bays on site, but don't think you can "fulltime" there. These 350 to 1,600 square foot garages are strictly for parking. At anywhere from $35,000 to $190,000 each, they can add substantially to the price of RVing for the 'big city set.'

Iowa town to propose tighter rules on RV street parking

It may soon be illegal for residents of Sioux City, Iowa to park an RV in front of their homes as city lawmakers consider new restrictive parking rules. Under a proposal to be presented to the City Council Nov. 5, those vehicles still may be parked on residential streets, but only for 24 hours and only twice every 30 days. Town residents have complained that RVs parked in the street create nuisances for neighbors and create possible safety hazards.

"It must have been the summer of the RVs," Rosanne Lienhard, assistant city attorney, told the Sioux City Journal. "We had a huge increase in complaints to the police department -- for RVs, slideouts, boats, trailers -- it was everything."

Current city law requires owners of motor vehicles who park on the street to move their vehicles daily. "A lot of people were doing that," Lienhard said. "That is not the intent of the law. That's why I wrote a much stricter code. It was not well defined before." Additionally, she said the current law does not define recreational vehicles. Under the new proposal, RVs and trailers are defined as "motor homes, travel trailer, fifth-wheel trailer, campers, camper trailers."

Violators would be guilty of a misdemeanor, which typically results in a $50 fine plus court costs and allows the police department to have the vehicle towed.

More Woes for LA "Burb" Parking

On July 1, those who parked their RV on the streets of Lakewood, California, a suburb city southeast of LA we apt to find a warning citation on their rig. That's because, like so many other municipalities, Lakewood's governing body and area residents by majority vote determined that RVs on the streets just couldn't be neat. Or, rather, that RV parking was incompatible with safety.

To lessen the blow, the city pursued a plan which would have provided RV storage spots for hundreds of RVs in an otherwise unused tract of land: A space directly beneath California Edison power transmission lines. 'Not so fast!' came the reply from the local fire agency. Putting a "nix" on the proposal, the local fire department determined the risks to both the public and firefighters were just too high. Citing the possibility of electrocution to RVers or firemen should the lines catch fire, the fire department's objection put an end to the storage suggestion.

While one RV trade journal decries the decision as a, 'lame excuse' there may be some precedent for the call. Earlier this year north of Perth, Australia, a 26-year-old schoolteacher lost her life trying to escape a fire caused by the "clashing" of high tension power lines. And for decades the debate has gone back and forth regarding the dangers of electromagnetic radiation associated with high voltage transmission lines.

For the story on the fire department's decision, visit the Long Beach, CA Press Telegram.

Stock photo courtesy U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Agency