Recreational Vehicle Scrutiny by City Council

Do you have a recreational vehicle, camper, RV, boat, jet ski, ATVs, trailer, etc?  Well, listen up as the city council moves to scrutinize the usage and storage of recreational vehicles within our residential neighborhood.

Key restrictions proposed included:

• Maximum of four recreational vehicles may be parked or stored on a property.
• Side yard may only have one recreational vehicle parked or stored and it must be at least 3′ away from the side property line.
  • This implies you can’t use both side yards to store 2 separate recreational vehicles.
• Maximum of three recreational vehicles may be parked or stored in rear yard.
• You can only have one of the following on your property:
  • Trailer
  • Trailer Coaches
  • Camping Trailers
  • Motorhomes / Coaches
  • Slide-in Pickup Campers
  • Converted Vans
  • Mini-Motorhome
  • 5th Wheel Trailer
• Boats shall be less than 32 feet in length and 10 feet 2 inches wide
• Recreational vehicles must have a current vehicle registration or license plate
• Temporary Parking
  • Recreational vehicles may be temporarily parked for no more than 2 hours in any 24-hour period in front of the building line or in front of the side street for the purposes of loading and unloading equipment and supplies.
  • You’ll need a permission slip from the City Manager in order to park the vehicle overnight in front of your home.

These restrictions came into place during the first reading of a new ordinance.  There was a lot of discussion and disagreement.  Many believed it was unreasonable to only have a two hour window to prep a recreational vehicle in the front of the lot.

Walter Fajet objected to the 3 foot restriction on the side yard.  He implied he would be out of compliance with his own recreational vehicle.

We are expecting a revised ordinance from the City Attorney based on the feedback from residents.

The primary thing the city wants to prohibit is using a camper or mobile home as temporary housing.  The City of Hialeah passed an ordinance banning such activities as it had become a pervasive problem.  Miami Springs city officials implied that while not pervasive, it appears to be a problem that has crept its way into Miami Springs.

What do you think about the proposed restrictions?