Marble Falls council to address RV parks
The Marble Falls City Council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, with a single item on its agenda: to discuss and take action regarding the city’s RV park regulations.
The meeting takes place at Lakeside Pavilion, 307 Buena Vista Drive.
The thrust of the regulations is that the parks are well maintained, permanent in nature, and don’t shift into being partially or wholly used as permanent residences.
“I’m concerned about what I consider the hybrid park,” Councilor Dave Rhodes said. “In traditional thinking, an RV park is a recreational vehicle park, i.e. something that is mobile, something that is very, very temporary, as in going on vacation. That is opposed to a mobile home park, which is a permanent situation. The only reason they are called mobile is because they put wheels on to get them there and then take the wheels out, and they usually stay for a long time.”
Rhodes said city ordinances apply to one or the other but not the liminal space between the two.
“They fall between tax codes and city ordinances, rules, laws, if you will, concerning are they mobile home parks or are they RV parks?” Rhodes said. “And it’s not being addressed.
When you have hybrid RV/mobile home parks, the only thing that can be effectively taxed is the land, Rhodes said.
A similar resolution was brought before the council on July 7, 2020, which established additional standards for RV parks, all with the goal of preventing the park from becoming, in part or in whole, a group of permanent residences.
The previous resolution added the following:
- RV Park Facility shall not provide or be used as the permanent address for any units and mailboxes shall not be provided for units.
- Individual units/spaces shall not have accessory structures including, but not limited to, sheds and carports.
- Outside storage at individual units/spaces is not allowed, except for a barbecue pit or similar outdoor cooking apparatus.
- Individual RV units/spaces shall not have permanent decks and/or porches.
- Individual RV units/spaces shall not have fencing.
Right now, to establish a new RV park within the city, the applicant must receive a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) approved by the City Council. The CUP process gives landowners within 200 feet notification and triggers planning and zoning and City Council hearings.
Additional examples of supplemental requirements for RV parks that could be imposed as part of the CUP process include, among others:
- establishing minimum lot length, width and overall average;
- requiring amenities such as showers, bathrooms, common area amenities, dog parks, and more;
- requiring owners or operators maintain the park facilities, fixtures, and permanent equipment in a clean and sanitary condition;
- requiring a park office that must maintain records pertaining to the management and supervision of the park available for inspection by law enforcement officers;
- and requiring rules that include disallowing and refusing to permit a person to occupy any lot for living purposes other than for interim or temporary periods of time that are generally less than 12 months in duration.
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Thats one way to push the poor out of the city. Once again MF saying we are better than you. When in reality the underbelly is rotted and the council filled with realtors and insurance owners truly don’t care for the poor.