The second public hearing of a recreational vehicles ordinance that would in part reduce the allowed time frame for staying on a vacant property in an RV from six months to 30 days was held Feb. 13, 2018.
The current ordinance in place restricts visitors staying in an RV at someone’s home to a time limit of 14 days for residential properties and 30 days for agricultural, agricultural/residential or PDP(RUR) zoned properties. Visitors are also required to get a permit within 2 business days of arrival. Planning and Zoning advised the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) to remove the line that restricts RV visitors to one per calendar year.
In regards to living in a recreational vehicle while building a home, the P & Z commission advised the BOCC to remove the time limitation on RV occupation “for a maximum period of (1) year,” allowing RV occupation until the Certificate of Occupancy is issued.
On Feb. 13, Commissioners Allocco and Holcomb agreed that both stronger code enforcement and private property rights protection were important.
Commissioner Nicholson expressed that recreational vehicles should not be allowed so close to the floodplain within Weeki Wachee as there is a huge potential for damage to the septic systems should any flooding occur. A solution for this potential problem was suggested by Chairman Champion that would essentially prohibit motor homes or recreational vehicles in certain areas of residential communities. Many of the RV complaints to the BOCC were from residents in Weeki Wachee Gardens, along the river.
One resident writes, “Imagine investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a new home in a neighborhood, driving pilings to support your home as required by code (at a great expense) and having a camper located next door. ”
Other residents submitted complaints relating to vacant properties setup for RV use not being kept up properly and becoming eye sores, especially after a big storm as non-residents are less likely to secure their property and clean it up in a timely manner.
Commissioners Allocco and Holcomb would prefer to see more focus on code enforcement violations rather than stricter ordinance changes. The county should not alienate a large and growing economic population when steps can be taken to benefit all of the county.
As an alternative to hastily making changes for a temporary solution to a larger problem, Commissioner Allocco brought up the possibility of leaving the ordinance as it is, taking the time to review all the information and only then taking the steps to formally change it.
Public comments were overwhelmingly in favor of either accommodating those with motor homes or preventing the stricter rules being enforced while the ordinance was fixed.
Jimmy Lodato was the first to tout the recreational vehicle users market as a ‘big economic booster’ for not just the county, but the state as well given that Florida is considered the ‘number one’ destination for the 1 million motor homes sold between 2017 and 2018. The main takeaway from Jimmy’s comments was simply the fact that ‘[we should not] be a county that […] forbids motorhomes and recreational vehicles on private property’ as it would invariably close a very big door. Comments made by Vicky Keaton focused on the fact that the changes being proposed mostly applied to motor homes in danger of flooding but in application would hurt those further in the county that are not at risk.
The last few comments brought up the benefits of RV’s or motor homes being in areas prone to flooding as typically, they are far easier to clear out and evacuate in case of an emergency. The commenters also advocated for letting ‘Code Enforcement deal with the real problem and not changing the law to hurt everyone.’
Before putting the changes for the ordinance up for vote, Commissioner Allocco suggested that there should be no limits to the length of someone’s stay in an RV if they are building their home.
Ultimately, the Board elected to not take any action on the new RV ordinance. This resulted in the current ordinance remaining unchanged.