Will Other RV Parks Adopt This Ordinance?
In Sheridan, Wyoming, a proposed city ordinance could force RVers to move every month, whether it is to another RV park or just another site within the same park. This may not sound like a big deal for those of us who vacation on a weekend or seasonal basis. But for an RVer living at a campground for months at a time, this could be a big inconvenience.
Reasoning for Ordinance 2219
The primary rationale behind this regulation has to do with clutter. The goal of the proposed Ordinance 2219 is to eliminate clutter accumulated around an owner’s RV and campsite. City officials see this as an eyesore. Visitors will not want to camp in RV parks and extend their stay in the community.
“If you don’t have some sort of (ordinance) that mandates that people move, we are creatures of habit and people tend to accumulate stuff,” Sheridan City Administrator Stuart McRae said. “When you accumulate stuff, and you don’t have anything that requires you to be mobile, you have the potential for clutter to occur…When you move around a lot… it does keep you light and you don’t tend to accumulate a lot of stuff… That’s kind of what this is going after.”
RV parks under proposed ordinance
The ordinance would zero in on RV parks located in areas of the city zoned B1. These parks must be open seven months or more out of the year. Currently, there are no RV parks in this zone that fit the criteria.
“Right now, there’s not an impact to any existing (parks),” McRae said. “But it does set a precedent for future B1 RV parks that would ensure there’s a mechanism… to make sure they don’t gravitate towards clutter.”
Conflicting opinions
While many city officials see this proposition’s reasoning, there are still many on the board that see this as a gray area.
“Obviously, I understand the reason behind it — general health and public welfare — but I guess my biggest issue is mandating something that happens on private property,” Councilor Kristen Jennings said.
“We are thinking about those that are going to create a bad image for Sheridan,” Councilor Steven Brantz said. “I understand that. But let’s be aware that we’re also trying to encourage people to come and stay here during the summer also. To say ‘We’re going to play this little game, and you have to move once a month’… that is just wrong. I just don’t want to see that done to our parks here in Sheridan.”
“There’s a lot of mandates that RV parks already have in the books, and I’m probably not in support of adding another one,” Councilor Jacob Martin agreed.
Regardless if this ordinance is approved or not, will this become a regulation RV parks around the nation choose to adopt?
Other RV park regulations (Spoken and unspoken)
If you plan to stay at an RV park long term, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the campground rules about extended stays. RV LIFE Campgrounds is not only a trusted online source of RV park reviews, it is a portal to park websites that list their regulations.
RV parks usually have their rules posted prominently. Even so, there are specific standards that RV owners are expected to adhere to. Veteran RVers are more so aware of these unwritten rules, mostly due to trial and error. For those new to RVing, Mike and Jennifer Wendland of RV Lifestyle have created a campground etiquette list.
Also check out these articles on campground ettiquette:
That is just stupid. You are penalizing everyone for just a few. I’m 67 and live in a trailer fulltime. I do not have transportation to move my trailer every month nor could I afford it. My area is kept clean. How about you just evict the people who do not follow the rules. Do you go into residential areas and make them move if they don’t keep their home tidy? I don’t think so. Just because there are wheels on our homes doesn’t make sense to move them. A lot of people put money into their spaces to make them look nice and feel like a home. My park has you follow the rules or you leave. It’s just that simple.
As an rver I can tell you they don’t do that cause it’s an eyesore, just like most hotels like motel 6 won’t let you stay more than 28 consecutive days cause under most laws if you stay somewhere for 30 consecutive days, they have to go through a legal eviction to get you out.
The city my RV park is located tried to force me to limit stays and pulled back because my long term are seniors and disabled vets they found they would be violating human rights by forcing people who consider there RV a home to move amd then come back
This is a good idea in Fl we have a lot of run down RV parks that are in diereesis and the owners don’t seem to care. Okeechobee is a good ex !
Most Rv parks have rules regarding camp site appearance. Unfortunately too many parks do not enforce their own rules and this leads to many junky sites. You never know until you get to your site what’s going to be next to you.
Wouldn’t it make better sense to have rule that says your site be clean and orderly and maybe a number limit of how many items that can be outside. These ridiculous ideas people come up with. Were so worried about political correctness and maybe offending somebody that Dont want to follow SIMPLE rules. Make to campers sign and agree upon check in.
That simple.
Sad,but true,as far as clutter accumulation,as well as folks taking on a territorial attitude,it’s the nature of the beast! This idea of moving spots every month definitely should be up to the R.V. park owner,and rules,if they care to have any,should be clearly written,understood,& signed by the visitor.Then if they don’t like it,they don’t have to stay there.Let’s face it,there are many inconsiderate people in this world,& rules must apply for the sake of others.There should be a camp ground for everybody,so seek & find what works for you.I personally don’t care to stay by a dump,so I seek a more quiet,spread apart atmosphere w/ the sound of family laughier and well minded pets,because that’s what works for us.😊🇺🇸😊
We have a Motorhome/Fifth Wheel Park here in Alabama at the Guntersville Lake named Mountain Lakes Marina. It’s an Ocean Canyon Property. They have what they call “Permanant Sites”. I have several friends that live there. The sites were built & the Rule was “ you can’t build on, IF you do it has to be movable “. Some, if not All of these sites Cannot be moved because the motor homes have been added on too. Some of the motor homes are very old. Some have kept there’s up. But some are a Death trap. Some being my friends. One has it really clean, one of the others has so much stuff on their carport, they can’t even park their car on it. From freezers to racks for clothes, there’s everything imaginable. The carport has a cover, which most have built a storage up inside of that. That is Full also. I’m kind of scared for them because if 1 goes up in flames All of them will because they are slammed right up next to each other.
Good idea, I hope other places do this. If park operators enforced there own rules to keep things neat it would not be necessary, If I see a campground with many long term campers I am concerned. .
I have lived in my RV for 2 years in the same space here in California. My current RV Parks rules don’t allow any items stored outside or under RV. Rules such as these prevent the problem mentioned in this proposal. Parks should enforce rules to prevent these issues such as my current RV Park. 7 months is usually longest stays allowed by most RV Parks. When RV parks also have mobile homes some will allow RVs to stay longer then 7 months. Keep RV parks privately run this has saved me and my family from over priced housing here in California.
Rv parks can enforce these kind of rules themselves just like mobile homes parks. If the owner of a park let’s it get trashy it is their fault.
Most RVrs keep their sites clean but as a seasonal campground host sadly like the rest of the world , there are some who just feel entitled and trash sites amd disturb other campers. They dont laugh much after they are kicked out with no refund. Really 30 days is pretty lenient. In most parks there is a 14 day limit.
Long Island NY already does something like this. You can’t stay anywhere for more than 14 nights. You have to change parks. Just moving to another site is not good enough. It’s a huge pain for those of us who rv fulltime. Many of the same people move the same day to the same parks, rotating between the 3 in the same 20 mile area.
Why doesnt the city just enforce their property appearance laws the same as Joe Blow with a house? Send them a notice to clean up or be fined. They are not animals to be hearded around.
Shouldn’t that be left up to the park owners?
Existing laws most likely cover things like fire hazards, sewer leaks, etc.
I hope this is done all over the country!!! People in the know get the best spots and locations. Not fair to the random RV traveler. We always get the back row or no place to camp at if if a place is full of long term persons.
Reminds me of moving my TT into a park and deciding to remove the wheels. (Tire life) It wasn’t park management that informed me I wasn’t allowed to do so. But the older woman in the next spot. 10′ away. And she always kept an eye on everything we did. But she tried to act friendly. We stayed almost 2 years until we decided that camping was too much work for weekend sittings. Also the campground increased the annual rate to more than I wanted to pay.
I can understand why RV parks would want to have people move due to the eyesore many rv’ers make at their site. This should be required of those who make a mess at their site. Those of us who keep a neat and orderly RV site shouldn’t have to move if they are there on an extended stay.
It’s my thought that the campground owners/managers should be held responsible for tenants who don’t keep their areas clean. It should be made clear at the time someone moves in that clutter is unacceptable and fines should be levied after a warning.
While the regulation seams well intended, Park owners/operators have the primary responsibility for campers behavior and making sure they understand the rules and comply.
This has long been the rule at military RV parks, but it has nothing to do with clutter. The military does not want full timers homesteading in their rv parks. However, there are exceptions and I and my wife lived in military RV parks for about 5 years. The rule was, max stay was 2 weeks. But, if there were empty spaces that had no reservations you could move to an empty space. They stopped even that about 5 years ago. In the offseason, you could stay as long as you wanted but you had to move every month to an unreserved space, and they stopped that too. I am sure there are still ways to beat the system, but we got tired of moving so we moved to an off base private RV park where we don’t have to move. It is a huge inconvenience to have to move every couple of weeks. In addition to those of us who simply chose to live the RV lifestyle, there are significant number of people who work construction jobs who live in RVs because the projects they work on end and they have to move to the next one. Lots of transient workers live in RVs. Lots of military people who get transferred frequently live in RVs. And in this era of the pandemic many people who can no longer afford to rent or buy a permanent residence are living in RVs.
What Sheridan needs to do is not pass an ordinance making them move. If clutter is the problem then deal with the clutter. The RV park I live in has strict rules that are enforced, about what you can have outside your rv. It also requires only one vehicle (other than the RV) be at your site, and they provide a parking lot for those with more than one vehicle. Long term RV’s (more than 2 weeks ) are in a separate area from short term. This makes it easier to enforce the standards.
Requiring people to move is simply a way to discourage full timers.