Couldn't they live outside the city limits? This has been a 'problem' with boom towns for centuries. The fact that so many men have found employment in this economy is a good thing. Surely, there are ways to lessen the impact on the locals.
2000 Born Free 24RB Class C
6.8L Ford V-10 Engine, E450 Chassis
2002 Honda CR-V toad
Roadmaster Sterling A/T towbar
VIP braking system
Eddyline Merlin kayak
I'll bet they welcome the money spent in town, though. Someone should lean on the employers to provide space somewhere, even if it's just a dirt field.
Well, in this case I kind of agree. It's one thing to "park" an RV on your property because you own it, maintain it, and drive it around occasionally and I live in the stick-house on the property, and there's only 1 RV in my driveway or back yard.
It's quite another thing to have a "cluster" of RV in your back yard, front yard, driveway, or wherever you can squeeze one (or more) in and someone is "living" in it. Zoning ordinances usually specify housing editions as "Single Family Dwelling" and usually specify "living" in RV's is prohibited.
Myself, (and I've been down this route before with zoning issues ... and ended up moving because I could not park my TT on my own property any more), I would not appreciate an RV park in my neighbor's back yard either. Granted 99.9% of those people in their RVs are honest, hard working, decent people looking for somewhere to lay their heads at night after a very HARD day at work. And I do understand ... where SHOULD they live?
The answer is simple, but not necessarily "simple" to carry out... The companies they work for should provide space (outside the city limits) for them to park. If those folks are forced to move their domicile, next thing you know, the company they work for will have a parking lot full of RV's anyway!
DutchmenSport
2005 Chevy Silverado 3500 Dually Duramax 6.6L V8 Turbo
Century Truck Cap Commercial /Toolboxes
Northeast Outfitters Canoe
Seems to me the town has had plenty of time to get ahead of the problem. They could be selling water, sewer, and electric instead of wringing their hands. When all the workers leave, will the town be happy? Could become a ghost town virtually overnight
2008 Dodge 3500 With a Really Strong Tractor Motor...........
LB, SRW, 4X4, 6-Speed Auto, 3.73, Prodigy P3, Blue Ox Sway Pro........
2007 Komfort 212 on 225 75R 15E Maxxis 8008 Tires.........
In an essentially rural area outside of town, there must be some farmers with large fields that would like to extend their "growing season" to 12 mos. per year. And there would most certainly be companies in the area that provide septic cleanout service, and others that either dig wells or provide fresh water for cisterns for the farmers. There's already gas stations that could fill jerry cans for generators. Seems like a match made in heaven. Shoot, if somebody did that, I'd go up there, find a piece of adjacent land and open a bar!
Retired and visiting as much of this beautiful country as I can.
In all reality, these are not RVers. They are traveling workers who are not from that area and have no homes in that area. They may use RVs to live in as a necessity, but that does not make them RVers in the true sense of the term. I have no idea why we are even discussing this on this forum???
I fail to see the main problem here,while I don't like a lot of ordinances, Williston is FAR from the first city to pass or have such a ban, there are many, many cities where it is illegal to live in a camper/RV, there is a big difference between "parking" it in your driveway, & "living" in it.
Sounds like a great economic venture for a farmer with a lot of land, "outside" the city, to open a long term CG.
2007 Forester 2941DS
2005 KIA Spectra
Zamboni, Long Haired Mini Dachshund
You can have my RV, when you pry my cold dead fingers from the Steering Wheel
One of the reasons why towns are doing so is that they are afraid of the boom and accompanying bust. All the money flows into the town, then the oil will goes dry, all the workers move on, and the town and its businesses have infrastructure that likely will never be used again in this lifetime.
Personally, banning RVs is stupid. At least when the workers move on, it doesn't mean that there are tons of temporary (and permanent) housing that will be sitting there doing nothing.
Even though getting the infrastructure (electrical, water, sewage) in for a RV park is expensive, for boomtimes, it might just work to allow people to have generators and have five gallon jerry cans for sale on site, have a honey truck for dumping, and a water truck for filling people's FW tanks. It isn't as good as a FHU site, but it is quick and dirty and gives people the ability to have some type of domicile.
It's pretty hard to build new housing and utilities for a city of 18,000 when the nearest "big" city of 30,000 - 40,000 was devastated by flooding last spring. The next closest metro area with about 110,000 people is 4 hours away.
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