Concord, California, RV parking rights

Concord, Calif., is creating a task force to determine where residents should be allowed to park their RVs.

The 11-member panel will have nine resident members — including four who own RVs and four who do not — and one tie-breaker. Two council members will round out the panel.

Following months of heated debate, city council on Nov. 6 voted unanimously to appoint the panel to examine Concord’s regulations for parking in residential areas. An alternative would have been to push for a ballot initiative to decide the issue.

The 120-day task force is expected to send a recommendation to council in April 2008.

According to the Contra Costa Times, the RV parking issue surfaced in June when city officials began receiving citizen complaints about blight. City staff was asked to start enforcing Concord’s latent RV parking ordinance.

The existing law prohibits RV parking in driveways or on streets. RVs must be parked in a side yard behind a fence or in a backyard or storage facility.

In response to the complaints, about 240 violation letters went out, the Times reported. The letters were later rescinded.

Residents argued that they have been allowed to park RVs in driveways for about 10 years, and that the new enforcement threatened their property rights. They own their driveways and therefore should be able to park their vehicles there, they said. Ample room for front-yard parking also was a concern.

City council planned to interview candidates for the task force through December (the deadline for applying was Nov. 27). The first meeting will be in early January.

Concord is located 29 miles east of San Francisco.

Concord, California
http://www.ci.concord.ca.us