A proposed ordinance banning recreational vehicles from Longmont streets might be delayed until Jan. 1 to allow owners and residents of such vehicles a chance to find another place to live.
City council will consider the new rule at a work session Tuesday night. No formal vote is scheduled as city staff members have presented several options to soften the blow of the proposed new rule. One option includes working with Boulder County to allow some short-term RV parking at the fairgrounds in Longmont.
The proposed ordinance would ban RVs, camper trailers, camper coaches and motorhomes from parking on city streets, in alleys or in other public rights of way in Longmont. It would replace an existing, more lenient rule that lets sleeper vehicles park on city streets for 48 hours as long as they are moved at least 600 feet away from their previous location.
Longmont police say the city’s existing law has allowed the number of RVs parked around the city to climb and many have fallen in disrepair. In a city council study session in August, police said some RV owners also have dumped their vehicles’ raw sewage onto city streets.
Council members told city officials to frame an ordinance banning RVs on public streets while also asking for more avenues for RV owners living in their vehicles.
Boulder County told city staff members that county-owned land at 1288 Alaska Ave. would be off-limits to an RV safe lot site because it is used by the county’s Public Works and sheriff’s departments and the Boulder County Housing Authority, according to a staff report.
Boulder County is willing to sell vouchers to the city for RV dwellers to use the fairgrounds’ dump station to dispose of their grey and black water, the staff report stated. The county also is considering letting RVs park at the fairgrounds for three to six months.
RV owners who park there, however, must work with county housing officials to get permanent housing, the report stated.
RVs at the fairgrounds might have to be moved to make way for emergency evacuees, the report stated.
“It is important to note that the Boulder County Fairgrounds may need to be used for evacuating animals in case of wildfires in Boulder County; the campground would not be available for other uses should that occur,” according to the report.
Moving the effective date of the revised ordinance to Jan. 1 could give RV dwellers at least three months to prepare for the changes and allow them to make “alternative living arrangements,” the staff report stated.
