Gulfport Council Continues to Tweak RV Ordinance

Amended Version Up For Consideration in Late March

By Monroe Roark

Elected officials in Gulfport made progress on the Gulfport RV ordinance at the Feb. 21 city council meeting.

Council tabled the first reading of a proposed new ordinance earlier in the month. But the council reached consensus during its Feb. 21 discussion on what city staff will redraft and present in late March.

Gulfport’s Current RV Ordinance

Public opinion at the meeting split on both sides of the issue on whether to loosen restrictions on residential RV storage. This was the case in the two previous meetings where council discussed it.

“I know we are going to have a lot of opinions on both sides of this,” said Mayor Sam Henderson, who called the council’s decision on this matter “about as easy as picking an official favorite color for the City of Gulfport.”

City Manager Jim O’Reilly presented some options for the elected of- ficials to consider. He pointed out that vehicle registration is already required, so it has no bearing on the proposed ordinance changes.

As the ordinance currently states, “It shall be unlawful to place, keep or maintain any recreational vehicle upon any lot or parcel of ground within the city, except in a designated recreational vehicle park, unless such person shall first obtain from the city manager or his or her designee, a permit to do so.”

O’Reilly spoke about how older RVs got grandfathered in when council passed the existing ordinance a decade ago. He cited the section that addresses it:

“Exemption shall only apply to recreational vehicles existing on a property prior to January 2, 2014: ‘Existing’ means a licensed and operable recreational vehicle located upon the owner’s property for which a valid permit from the city manager or his or her designee, has been obtained pursuant to section 21-2.”

He recommended councilmem- bers leave that section as is, regardless of whether any other changes are made.

Four RV Options

O’Reilly listed four options for the council to consider.

The first would permit RV parking in a side or rear yard, removing the setback requirements currently in place.

The second would permit perpendicular placement in front of a residential structure, as long as it does not extend into the public right of way, while retaining side and rear yard setbacks.

The third was a combination of sorts of the first two, permitting perpendicular placement in front and also allowing side and rear yard

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RV continued from page 7 use, removing the setback requirements.

The fourth was to make no changes from the existing ordinance.

“There is no answer this evening that is going to give everyone in this room a level of success,” said O’Reilly. “The big issue is that your lot controls how big an RV you can put there.”

He pointed out that a Class B motorhome, which often resembles a large van, can be sizable. But it is usually comparable to a work vehicle. People can park those in front of their homes. With that in mind, he said, it still comes down to the size of a lot.

“If your house only sits 22 feet from the right of way, that is going to cap you at 22 feet from the front of the structure,” he said.

A Possible Solution

Just before giving each council member a turn to make comments, Henderson proposed a possible solution.

He suggested leaving Class B vehicles alone, as well as those grandfathered in from 2014. Otherwise, he proposed allowing side and rear yard parking with no setbacks except for three feet of separation from a house, as fire safety officials have recommended.

“This is something I’d be willing to vote on,” he said. “I think that would open it up for a whole lot of people.”

Henderson said he is not in favor of front yard parking, but removing the other requirements would make it easier for many who now struggle with the setback restrictions.

He noted that the fire safety separation should remain “because my concern is if we pass this knowing it’s a fire recommendation of three feet, I feel like it puts us in litigious territory.”

Councilmember April Thanos (Ward I) pointed out that a pickup truck with a camper shell on the back would be allowed in a driveway, because it is essentially a truck. She asked for further clarification on what constitutes a Class B vehicle, and several people in the audience mentioned an Amazon delivery van as the most similar vehicle that everyone recognizes.

Thanos concluded her remarks with, “I actually would go with your recommendation, Sam.”

Compromise Specifics

Councilmember Christine Brown (Ward II) asked about the viability of concrete pads to prevent possible leakage into the ground, and other councilmembers said they would not favor that because it increases the amount of impervious surface.

When asked about registration specifics, O’Reilly said the owner of the property where the RV sits must get included in the registration if someone else owns the actual RV.

“I’m fully on board with what Sam proposed,” said Councilmember Paul Ray (Ward III), who brought the issue before the council a couple of months ago. He has consistently called it a property rights issue.

“Somebody had said that I bought an RV and suddenly found out that I couldn’t have it so I decided I’d change the law,” said Ray. “Well, that’s a load of crap. I made a commitment nine years ago that if I got on the council, I’d work to change that ordinance.”

“Safe and Fair”

Ray called the newest proposal safe and fair, noting that other provisions already in place, such as a requirement to keep the lawn underneath a parked vehicle in line with the grass around it.

“Overall I think this covers what we really need and what we’ve been hearing from people in the audience,” he said. “I don’t want to see campers all over the place. I want to keep everything the way it looks, and I think this is the way we do it.”

O’Reilly suggested using the word “separation” instead of “setback,” which he called a zoning term.

“We’ll go back and draft it for you, probably for the second meeting in March,” said O’Reilly, referring to the Mar. 21 regular meeting. He said some scheduling issues would keep council from addressing Gulfport’s RV ordinance earlier than that.

To watch video of the Feb. 21 meeting, visit mygulfport.us/councilmeetings..