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Craig enacts moratorium on RV living time limit

 

The City of Craig's Council Chambers
Craig Press File

Craig residents living in an RV can live there a little bit longer now.

Craig City Council Tuesday put in place a moratorium on the city’s 90-day limit for residents living in a recreational vehicle within city limits, forgoing enforcement of the time limit for a period of six months.

With an eye toward the housing shortage and specifically mentioning temporary workers and those selling houses and staying in the city, the council unanimously passed the resolution, which means RV-dwelling residents can remain housed in that manner until at least early next year.



Building official Marlin Eckhoff mentioned that temporary workers and those coming to town for immediate work, like those who are building a solar field near ColoWyo Mine, for example, struggle to find housing in the city’s tight housing market. Some of these folks come in RVs but can’t legally park them and stay in them for long.

Eckhoff clarified by phone that RVs can only be parked in areas of the city zoned for residential mobile homes. Those are the places where sewer and utility hookups are already provided. He acknowledged that’s a relatively limited zone, space-wise, but said that the infrastructure limitations would make allowing parking elsewhere in the city a sanitation issue.



Council Member Paul James asked at the meeting why not just eliminate the time limit altogether, doing away with the 90-day maximum and allowing folks to live in RVs indefinitely. He was told that was a long-term option the council could pursue, but it was suggested by staff that there were benefits to keeping it limited and renewable for the time being.

“This is a quicker fix,” city attorney Heather Cannon said Tuesday. “You can decide what to do with modification of the code. Not sure long-term you will want to get rid of the limitation, but this buys you time.”

Eckhoff explained that there were considerations to include should the council think about eliminating the time limit altogether.

“The idea is if you don’t want mobile home parks to turn into RV parks,” Eckhoff said. “There’s different requirements there; RVs are not meant to be lived in full-time, and that’s why they do this. They allow a certain amount of time, but this prevents them from turning into an RV park without the regulations that an RV park would have. Mobile home parks can stay within their zoning, but this gives a window of time to alleviate some housing needs for workers.”

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