Protests kill revised RV parking rules
Written by Ben Marrone/Sun Post
By Ben Marrone
MANTECA — An effort to make the city zoning code more understandable and “user-friendly” was derailed when more than 70 people showed up at a planning commission meeting Tuesday, June 26, to protest what they thought would be harsher restrictions on keeping boats and RVs in residential neighborhoods.
The changes to the city zoning code, according to a report from city planner Erika Hollander, were meant to fix certain sections that were “unclear, inadequate or outdated” and make code enforcement and project reviews “less bewildering to the … citizen.”
However, a change in the city’s storage requirements for recreational vehicles caused near panic after a local newspaper reported that the city was trying to reduce the number of RVs and boats people could keep on their property.
Many people showed up at the Tuesday planning meeting with the mistaken idea that, under the new code, every RV in a residential neighborhood would have to be parked in a garage.
Manteca resident Dave Wampler, who said he skipped his 25th wedding anniversary to attend the meeting, told the planning commission he had bought his house because it had a place to store an RV and he could not understand why the city would take away that ability.
“What is wrong with you people Do you have nothing better to do You should all be ashamed of yourself for something like this,” Wampler told the commission. “I don’t get it. Is it not America any more”
In fact, the change put forward by city planners would require RVs to be parked at least as far from the street as the front door. The existing law says an RV can be parked as close to the street as the city’s minimum front-lawn setback, which in most cases is 20 feet.
RV owners whose homes sit farther from the street than the city requires would have had to move their vehicles back several feet under the change, planning manager Kathy Wold said, but increasing setbacks was not the intent.
City code-enforcement officer Greg Baird had suggested the change, Wold said, because he thought the existing code language was unclear.
Most of the people who showed up at the meeting, however, were uncertain about what was being changed.
Dozens of people stepped forward to declare their outrage about rumors they’d heard and to ask the planning commission to explain what was being changed and why. Applause and cheers from the crowd followed most of the comments.
Their questions remained unanswered for nearly 1½ hours, because commission chair Brian Gookins said he wanted to hear everyone from the public before he had city planners respond.
Finally, planning head Kyle Kollar suggested that if planners were allowed to explain the change, people would probably have fewer questions about it.
But questions and protests continued after Wold’s brief and sometimes confusing explanation. Kollar then suggested throwing out the change to the RV parking code because it was not worth the controversy.
“If this is going to cause community uproar, I’m not sure it’s worth going through,” Kollar said, to enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
The planning commission voted unanimously to scrap any changes to the code governing recreational vehicle parking. They postponed other code changes on the agenda until their July 24 meeting.
Most of the audience went away satisfied, but the level of outrage and mistrust residents showed at the meeting suggested that RV parking in the city was already a sore spot.
Many people who spoke to the commission complained about items they thought were proposed changes to the code, but which had been written into the law for years.
For example, a provision that allows residents to keep just one RV or boat or trailer outside a garage has been on the books since 2002 and will remain active after Tuesday’s meeting.
Residents also complained that a code change would prohibit trucks weighing more than 8,000 pounds from parking in residential neighborhoods. That item, too, has been on the books since 2002, though it would have been eased by the proposed code change.
The proposal would have made regular pickups exempt from the 8,000-pound limit.
n Comment on this story at www.sunpost.net, or to reach Sun Post reporter Ben Marrone, call 239-6351, ext. 305, or e-mail bmarrone@sunpost.net.
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Monday, July 2, 2007
Protests kill revised RV parking rules
Protests kill revised RV parking rules
Written by Ben Marrone/Sun Post
By Ben Marrone
MANTECA — An effort to make the city zoning code more understandable and “user-friendly” was derailed when more than 70 people showed up at a planning commission meeting Tuesday, June 26, to protest what they thought would be harsher restrictions on keeping boats and RVs in residential neighborhoods.
The changes to the city zoning code, according to a report from city planner Erika Hollander, were meant to fix certain sections that were “unclear, inadequate or outdated” and make code enforcement and project reviews “less bewildering to the … citizen.”
However, a change in the city’s storage requirements for recreational vehicles caused near panic after a local newspaper reported that the city was trying to reduce the number of RVs and boats people could keep on their property.
Many people showed up at the Tuesday planning meeting with the mistaken idea that, under the new code, every RV in a residential neighborhood would have to be parked in a garage.
Manteca resident Dave Wampler, who said he skipped his 25th wedding anniversary to attend the meeting, told the planning commission he had bought his house because it had a place to store an RV and he could not understand why the city would take away that ability.
“What is wrong with you people Do you have nothing better to do You should all be ashamed of yourself for something like this,” Wampler told the commission. “I don’t get it. Is it not America any more”
In fact, the change put forward by city planners would require RVs to be parked at least as far from the street as the front door. The existing law says an RV can be parked as close to the street as the city’s minimum front-lawn setback, which in most cases is 20 feet.
RV owners whose homes sit farther from the street than the city requires would have had to move their vehicles back several feet under the change, planning manager Kathy Wold said, but increasing setbacks was not the intent.
City code-enforcement officer Greg Baird had suggested the change, Wold said, because he thought the existing code language was unclear.
Most of the people who showed up at the meeting, however, were uncertain about what was being changed.
Dozens of people stepped forward to declare their outrage about rumors they’d heard and to ask the planning commission to explain what was being changed and why. Applause and cheers from the crowd followed most of the comments.
Their questions remained unanswered for nearly 1½ hours, because commission chair Brian Gookins said he wanted to hear everyone from the public before he had city planners respond.
Finally, planning head Kyle Kollar suggested that if planners were allowed to explain the change, people would probably have fewer questions about it.
But questions and protests continued after Wold’s brief and sometimes confusing explanation. Kollar then suggested throwing out the change to the RV parking code because it was not worth the controversy.
“If this is going to cause community uproar, I’m not sure it’s worth going through,” Kollar said, to enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
The planning commission voted unanimously to scrap any changes to the code governing recreational vehicle parking. They postponed other code changes on the agenda until their July 24 meeting.
Most of the audience went away satisfied, but the level of outrage and mistrust residents showed at the meeting suggested that RV parking in the city was already a sore spot.
Many people who spoke to the commission complained about items they thought were proposed changes to the code, but which had been written into the law for years.
For example, a provision that allows residents to keep just one RV or boat or trailer outside a garage has been on the books since 2002 and will remain active after Tuesday’s meeting.
Residents also complained that a code change would prohibit trucks weighing more than 8,000 pounds from parking in residential neighborhoods. That item, too, has been on the books since 2002, though it would have been eased by the proposed code change.
The proposal would have made regular pickups exempt from the 8,000-pound limit.
n Comment on this story at www.sunpost.net, or to reach Sun Post reporter Ben Marrone, call 239-6351, ext. 305, or e-mail bmarrone@sunpost.net.
Written by Ben Marrone/Sun Post
By Ben Marrone
MANTECA — An effort to make the city zoning code more understandable and “user-friendly” was derailed when more than 70 people showed up at a planning commission meeting Tuesday, June 26, to protest what they thought would be harsher restrictions on keeping boats and RVs in residential neighborhoods.
The changes to the city zoning code, according to a report from city planner Erika Hollander, were meant to fix certain sections that were “unclear, inadequate or outdated” and make code enforcement and project reviews “less bewildering to the … citizen.”
However, a change in the city’s storage requirements for recreational vehicles caused near panic after a local newspaper reported that the city was trying to reduce the number of RVs and boats people could keep on their property.
Many people showed up at the Tuesday planning meeting with the mistaken idea that, under the new code, every RV in a residential neighborhood would have to be parked in a garage.
Manteca resident Dave Wampler, who said he skipped his 25th wedding anniversary to attend the meeting, told the planning commission he had bought his house because it had a place to store an RV and he could not understand why the city would take away that ability.
“What is wrong with you people Do you have nothing better to do You should all be ashamed of yourself for something like this,” Wampler told the commission. “I don’t get it. Is it not America any more”
In fact, the change put forward by city planners would require RVs to be parked at least as far from the street as the front door. The existing law says an RV can be parked as close to the street as the city’s minimum front-lawn setback, which in most cases is 20 feet.
RV owners whose homes sit farther from the street than the city requires would have had to move their vehicles back several feet under the change, planning manager Kathy Wold said, but increasing setbacks was not the intent.
City code-enforcement officer Greg Baird had suggested the change, Wold said, because he thought the existing code language was unclear.
Most of the people who showed up at the meeting, however, were uncertain about what was being changed.
Dozens of people stepped forward to declare their outrage about rumors they’d heard and to ask the planning commission to explain what was being changed and why. Applause and cheers from the crowd followed most of the comments.
Their questions remained unanswered for nearly 1½ hours, because commission chair Brian Gookins said he wanted to hear everyone from the public before he had city planners respond.
Finally, planning head Kyle Kollar suggested that if planners were allowed to explain the change, people would probably have fewer questions about it.
But questions and protests continued after Wold’s brief and sometimes confusing explanation. Kollar then suggested throwing out the change to the RV parking code because it was not worth the controversy.
“If this is going to cause community uproar, I’m not sure it’s worth going through,” Kollar said, to enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
The planning commission voted unanimously to scrap any changes to the code governing recreational vehicle parking. They postponed other code changes on the agenda until their July 24 meeting.
Most of the audience went away satisfied, but the level of outrage and mistrust residents showed at the meeting suggested that RV parking in the city was already a sore spot.
Many people who spoke to the commission complained about items they thought were proposed changes to the code, but which had been written into the law for years.
For example, a provision that allows residents to keep just one RV or boat or trailer outside a garage has been on the books since 2002 and will remain active after Tuesday’s meeting.
Residents also complained that a code change would prohibit trucks weighing more than 8,000 pounds from parking in residential neighborhoods. That item, too, has been on the books since 2002, though it would have been eased by the proposed code change.
The proposal would have made regular pickups exempt from the 8,000-pound limit.
n Comment on this story at www.sunpost.net, or to reach Sun Post reporter Ben Marrone, call 239-6351, ext. 305, or e-mail bmarrone@sunpost.net.
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