Over 180 people, many RV enthusiasts, packed the Alamogordo (N.M.) City Commission’s regular meeting Tuesday (March 22) to protest a possible RV ordinance the city was to discuss that night, but no action was taken and it appears RV owners made their point with commissioners, the Alamogordo Daily News reported.
Several people voiced their opposition to an ordinance aimed at regulating RV storage in city limits, although not all 24 who had signed up to speak actually addressed the commission. Many passed, saying their friends and neighbors had voiced their concerns.
Commission chambers were packed, and the Municipal Courtroom was filled as well, with RV owners concerned about the ordinance. Many expressed their support for keeping existing ordinances on the books as they are. Some said passing the ordinance would force them to put their RVs in storage, which they can’t afford on their fixed incomes.
City attorney Stephen Thies said the existing ordinance says RVs can be stored on residential property if they are not too large, and they must be parked 2 feet back from a sidewalk or 5 feet back from a curb if there is no sidewalk. Thies said in a recent look around Alamogordo, code enforcement counted 100 RVs and 18 were not in compliance with the existing ordinance.
Some points of the ordinance Thies drafted for discussion Tuesday night included:
– No parking an RV in front of the front building line on the property.
– No parking any RV on a residential lot if it is larger than 200 square feet.
After many RVers had spoken up, Mayor Ron Griggs said there was no need for the commission to take any action on the ordinance it had been set up primarily for discussion purposes. He said commissioners had heard from some people who would like to see such an ordinance, so the city had put the discussion together to see what the greater public had to say. He said issues with RVs are better handled between neighbors rather than having the city get involved.
Griggs said it was fun having a crowd of people at a commission meeting for a change.
“Every so often we get to see how the local democratic process works,” Griggs said.
Griggs assured everyone that if the issue comes back up, the city will let them know.
“We don’t try to sneak these off and pass them in the dead of the night,” Griggs said. “So we appreciate you all being here.”
