Some Durango residents are calling for a crackdown on owners of boats, campers, trailers and recreational vehicles stored on public streets.
Residents have shared concerns to City Council about long-term storage on city streets, councilors said.
Another resident asked City Council why she’s being required to move her RV and requested leniency or flexibility while she works out long-term storage, according to a records request.
The resident did not respond to request for comment.
City councilors are divided on how much the city should regulate RVs, trailers and other vehicles being stored.
Councilor Kip Koso described a dance between residents and Durango Police Department code enforcement as a game of “cat and mouse.”
What’s most frustrating, he said, is residents only need to move their vehicle or trailer 25 feet in order to reset city code enforcement’s storage requirements.
Koso requested an ordinance for parking prohibitions for recreational vehicles, trailers and crafts last month.
“I’ve heard multiple complaints around large vehicles being parked for days, weeks – and in the case (of students on summer vacation) – sometimes vehicles and trailers have been parked for months in front of houses in the downtown area,” he said.
Mayor Gilda Yazzie said she is concerned about children who could wander into the street and not be visible to drivers because of RVs, campers and large storage units hampering drivers’ visibility.
Councilor Jessika Loyer said she needs more information before she could support a new ordinance further prohibiting street storage.
She said the Animas River that runs through Durango defines the community and she doesn’t want to hamper that.
“I don’t want to be that town,” she said.
Permits could perhaps be an option for people who want to recreate on the river but can’t afford RV, boat or trailer storage, she said.
“Is it a nasty neighbor or is it a real issue?” she said. “I don’t see RVs and boats and trailers parked on Third Avenue where there’s no parking.”
City Manager José Madrigal said at the Nov. 4 City Council meeting more information about the extent of RV and trailer parking is needed before staff members could recommend whether heavier regulation is needed.
Steve Barkley, Durango Police Department code enforcement officer, said RVs, boats and trailers aren’t technically allowed to be stored on public streets at all, and code enforcement normally addresses street storage on a complaint basis.
“All we really got is the land-use code that restricts RVs, which is any recreational vehicle from being stored on the city streets,” he said.
Code enforcement currently addresses street storage on a complaint basis and when the city streets division needs to conduct snow plowing operations uninhibited.
He said he imagines any changes to city code would incorporate a complaint-based system.
About 90% of residents who are told to move their vehicles or trailers comply, he said. The remaining 10%, approximately, say they use their RV or craft on a daily basis and shouldn’t be restricted from parking it on the street.
Barkley said code enforcement allows up to 24 hours of “on-street storage” to allow residents to prepare their vehicles for travel and for cleaning and upkeep after travel.
Any longer than that, he said, and the vehicles must be stored on private property. Currently, code enforcement allows residents about 72 hours to comply with a request for removal.
cburney@durangoherald.com
