# R.v Parking On You Driveway



## LILLUKIE (Jan 10, 2005)

*RV STORAGE*​
*Where you can keep your RV*

In your driveway5235.14%On your property5939.86%On your Driveway / property if under 22feet32.03%must be stored off property3422.97%00.00%

*Are there any local laws for RV storage *

Yes5747.50%No6352.50%


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## LILLUKIE (Jan 10, 2005)

Just curious. I was wondering if it is just me that disagrees with the town saying I can not park my travel trailer on my property, Because of a recently passed code. I know that some new home tracts or developments have rules and do not allow this kind of riff raff into its neighborhoods. I just got out of court after 2 nights there to resolve a law against RV owners that is not effect till 1-1-2010 that states you cannot have a recreational vehicle on your property for more than 10 days in a calender year. What they wanted to cite me for was nothing over 22 feet is allowed. So Im sure its not done yet. Basically i was wondering if other places have adopted these rules? Thank You Paul


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I say it would be better to move then think those laws are the best way to go.


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## mike (Dec 17, 2006)

I am fortunate because 99% of the people in my town are not allowed to have an rv on thier driveway. The way the code is written is that it cannot pass the front of ur house. My house is one of only a few that have a side drive and a front drive. I can park about 50' of rv if i needed to. btw it has to be my rv and i cannot rent the space.


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## Tyvekcat (Aug 28, 2007)

LILLUKIE said:


> Just curious. I was wondering if it is just me that disagrees with the town saying I can not park my travel trailer on my property, Because of a recently passed code. I know that some new home tracts or developments have rules and do not allow this kind of riff raff into its neighborhoods. I just got out of court after 2 nights there to resolve a law against RV owners that is not effect till 1-1-2010 that states you cannot have a recreational vehicle on your property for more than 10 days in a calender year. What they wanted to cite me for was nothing over 22 feet is allowed. So Im sure its not done yet. Basically i was wondering if other places have adopted these rules? Thank You Paul


Well thats a bunch of Horse%#[email protected] ! But, I bet you can have 16 roosters that start crowing at 4:30am.








Whoops, wrong argument. 
Seems like if you have and Outback or SOB, before the ordinance is passed, you should be 'grandfathered' in, and allowed to keep that RV on your property. Then they may say you cannot park the next on on your land in town limits. 
Yeah, its bad, I figure I will have to eventually move to Texas. Looks like you might to move to Seneca Falls. Hope you win.


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## Texas Friends (Feb 12, 2006)

We are fortunate... We live in Texas and out in the country on a few acres. Our 31FQBH sits right next to our carport all the time. And when we are gettting ready for a trip I put in the driveway right next to the house! (much easier loading up that way)








Green Acres is the place to be......

Bryan


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## dgilmore12 (Mar 31, 2008)

We can keep it on property if behind the setback and shielded from view with a fence or vegitation. With my lot that doesn't work. I can keep it in the driveway for 48 hours. The ordinance is only enforced if someone complains, fortunately I have good neighbors, so I have kept it as long as 2 weeks without any issues.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

This is one of the ordinances that are passed because some people have poor judgement and a lack of common sense or caring. By me, there is an ordinace but rarely enforced unless there is a complaint and even then it can be just 2 neighbors who don t get along, not really an eyesore issue.


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

it sits out front of the house. We are in county, no laws saying it can't be there.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> it sits out front of the house. We are in county, no laws saying it can't be there.


Yeah, plus you have those inside connections with the LAW right?


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## BlueWedge (Sep 11, 2005)

The only law we have applies to commerical vehicles.


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## ED_RN (Jun 25, 2006)

Can't park on the street if over a certain length during daytime during the week unless it's an out of town visitor and you get a permit. Can't park any trailer that is not attached to a tow vechicle. Friday afternoon through Monday morning OK. The law applies to any trailer or vehicle over a certain lenght not just RV's. We park ours in the driveway as do many of our neighbors. The night before we leave we can put it on street in front of the house , no problem.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

We live in unincorporated Snohomish County so there are no laws that apply to us. There is supposed to be a vote for incorporation into the city of Mukilteo in November. If that passes, who knows.


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## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

Nobody messes with us here. No ords against it. Small city of about 15,000. Mine is parked in back yard and hardly visible from street. my neighbors dont care anyway. ---Mike


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

Never checked the laws. I couldn't fit my trailer in my driveway if I had to.


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## RLP14 (Jun 18, 2009)

Another Texan here. We, like Texas Friends, live out in the country so there's no laws to interfere with our storing the trailer. Ours sits beside the drive way less than 15 feet from the corner of the house. Loading up for a trip is a breeze. The cows that lounge in the shade on the back side of the Outback don't mind it's presence a bit!


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

Here in Keokuk can park on the street between Apr. 1st and Nov. 1st. At one time I was told only for 3 days but there is nothing in the code about it. As far as parking on your property, the only code is that you can not live in the camper or have someone live in the camper. I have a crazy neighbor (latest thing is him and her sun bathing nude in the backyard) that hates me so everytime we go out to the camper he says hope no body is living in that! I so want to smart mouth back but I'm trying to remain Christian about it.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Comes down to the age old issue of Personal Property Rights.

Part of the reason I joined FMCA is they have some info on this, I'll see if I can get a copy for you.

*I've heard that my town is considering an ordinance that would restrict RV parking. What should I do?*

FMCA's Governmental and Legislative Affairs Committee has prepared a parking rights manual that outlines the steps you should take when confronted by restrictive ordinances. A copy of the manual and related information appears online at www.fmca.com. Or feel free to contact our Member Services Department to request a copy.


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## Collinsfam_WY (Nov 9, 2006)

I wasn't sure what the specifics were on our local RV ordinance although I knew that we had one. You may park your RV anywhere if it is under 22 ft in length, but then it says that the vehicle must also be under 7ft wide and under 7ft high. (Casita's anyone??) It then goes on to say that it can not be parked anywhere in the required front yard setback. This is a 25ft setback from the edge of the sidewalk closest to your house. This immediately excludes most of the homes in Lubbock. We don't have a sidewalk in front of our house so it would then be measured from the street. RVs or any other oversized vehicle may be parked beyond the setback at any place on your property including the front yard, side yards, back yards and any carport that is beyond the setback. You may park in the setback area for 48 hours when loading or unloading. You may also park there if a non-Lubbock resident is living in the trailer for a maximum of 14 days in a 30 day period.

This ordinance was put into effect after a local city councilman's son was driving drunk, hit an RV (can't remember if it was parked in the street or in a driveway) and died in the accident. They blamed the RV for being there in the first place.

All of that said we park ours in our backyard behind our shop since we had the room. We live on a little over an acre. It has its own parking pad made out of rock and an entrance from the alley way. Having RV parking is a big draw when selling a home in our area. I believe that our house sits either 40 or 45ft back from the street so we might be able to get away with parking the 23rs in front of the house if we had to.

Micah


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## JEFFNROA (Aug 25, 2008)

Sorry to hear that. We can park our's in driveway as long as it's behind the front building line.


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## russlg (Jul 21, 2008)

So much for the land of the free!!!


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## Livin4weekenz (Aug 26, 2007)

ours stays next to the pole barn we have never had a problem, we also live in a rural area


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

I don't have any room on my property to park my OB but my hometown has laws that restrict RV parking. It appears that these laws aren't stringently enforced since several people within a few hundred yards of my home have RV's in their driveways or side yards.

I keep my OB at an RV storage facility less than a mile from my home. Unfortunately that is expensive - to the tune of $2500 per year.


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

Nathan said:


> it sits out front of the house. We are in county, no laws saying it can't be there.


Yeah, plus you have those inside connections with the LAW right?








[/quote]

The law that lives in this county house works for the city PD so not sure it would help


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## proffsionl (Feb 19, 2005)

Our city ordinance reads: "Residents may keep two antique or recreational vehicles such as a boat or RV screened behind a 6-foot wood or masonry fence. "

Our HOA covenants read (paraphrased) that no boat, RV, etc. may be parked on or near the property at any time. Of course, we moved here before we had an RV. Had we already owned one, that would have affected my decision to live here.

The good news is that there are two items in play here. First, the HOA is somewhat flexible as long as I let them know it will be here (to clean/load/unload). Second, I have been told by the management company that their ability to enforce any street parking rules is limited since these are public City of Austin streets. I'm still unclear on the facts around that bit.


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

A lot of towns and community's here in the communist state of Maryland do not allow RV's on YOUR property ( yours per say but controlled by the govt. ). Where I live is not in a community and we don't have anything like that. Mine sits in the driveway and I will never live in a community or area that says I cant keep my RV in my driveway. Some places banned motorcycles from their neighborhood. I live in a sad state. The reason laws like that are passed is from stupid people parking junk in their yard till it turns to a rust pile. Its a bunch of bull that they expect you to conform now because they passed a law that was not in place prior to your camper being where it is. But you have to realize that the govt. always knows whats best for you and you need to realize that and confirm like a good citizen comrad.....


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## The Stephensons (Jul 10, 2007)

We live outside the city limits, but are controlled by an HOA that states we can park an RV in the side or back of our house as long as it's behind a 6' privacy fence. We have it parked in our driveway while we're widening our fence/gate (so it will fit on the side of our house). I think they can see the construction and that we're trying to find a home for our trailer, so we haven't been fined or given notice about the driveway parking (yet). I will NEVER live somewhere controlled by an HOA ever again! Hate it.....


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

There may be several safety factors in play with the proposed ordinances. I can agree with the 25' setback part, because when my neighbors are backing out of their driveway it can difficult to see oncoming traffic past my 30' long RV.

But limiting size, etc, is discriminatory, unless they can show a reason for the limitations. Not liking the looks of an RV sitting in your driveway is not a valid legal reason for the limitations, either. A city can regulate safety but they cannot legally regulate aesthetics. This point has been argued and won in most states. The Good Sam Club has a Parking Rights Manual available from their website. Now if there are restrictions and/or covenants attached to the title of your property, like HOAs or sub-division regulations, then that's just the way it is. Those should have been disclosed to you at closing time. But if these are new or proposed changes to existing ordinances, you can probably prevail in the end - if you have a lot of patience and persistence.

Our village has a similar ordinance on the books, but they do not enforce it unless someone complains. Someone did complain about my old pop-up, a number of years ago. The police gave me a warning citation, with 48 hours to comply. So I drove around and wrote down the address of every violation I saw, in my corner of the town, along with the description of the violation. After a couple hours of this, I went to the Village Hall and bumped in to the Mayor and the Police Chief just coming from a meeting.

"Just the two people I was looking for," was my greeting. They asked what they could do for me, and I enquired, "It is my understanding that you only cite someone for illegally parking trailers in their driveways if someone complains. Is that correct?"

"Yes," replied the Chief.

"Well, here's a list of 47 violations," I said, as I handed him a little spiral notebook. "I am complaining! And I'll be back tomorrow with another 50 or so."

The looks on their faces were priceless.

The Mayor then told me not to worry about my trailer - she was going to put this problem to bed. She instructed the Chief to look the other way until the board could talk more about this. At the public hearing, there wasn't room for 1/4 of the people that were there to have their chance to rant! (Wonder how all those folks knew to show up. Just coincidence that I had a list of their addresses, huh?!







)

The ordinance is still there, and they only enforce the setback portion for long-term parking or storage - for safety reasons. But I can park mine in my driveway for several days (loading, maintenance, cleaning, winterizing, etc), even though I don't meet the setback limitations. I can leave it parked on the street in front of my house, as long as it is attached to my truck. But unattached, it s considered on-street storage, which is prohibited. I keep mine in a large, private gravel lot, with absolutely NOTHING else parked back there. And it's only about three blocks from my house. It is well lit, and the cops even investigated me working on it one time, because they saw someone drive back there!

All in all, I can live with things the way they are. I don't have a spot for my trailer on my property, without blocking off my garage. So the regulations work for me.

Hope you can help your city reach some reasonable conclusions and draft a reasonable ordinance. Keeping your cool, but letting them know you're serious, patient, and persistent will go a long way toward something you can live with. (And take a look at the material from Good Sam and the other organization mentioned earlier. It will give you some ammunition and arguments.)

Good luck!

Mike


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

Scoutr2 said:


> "Just the two people I was looking for," was my greeting. They asked what they could do for me, and I enquired, "It is my understanding that you only cite someone for illegally parking trailers in their driveways if someone complains. Is that correct?"
> 
> "Yes," replied the Chief.
> 
> ...


Way to go Mike!

I recently had an issue about parking my cars on my cul de sac. I've lived in my house for over 30 years, and about every 10 years or so another hot shot code enforcement officer writes me up for not parking parallel in front of my house. In the past I went through the normal channels, appealed it, and it was invariably dismissed. Well not this last time, even after I showed the arbitrator the previous rulings. So, I was stuck with the $100 fine.

I then emailed a city council person on whose campaign I had worked three years ago. He took all my information and handed it over to a traffic engineer, who came to my home and told me that no one else in the City had ever gotten the parking changed from parallel to perpendicular, but he was willing to take it in front of our local traffic commission if I could get a petition signed by my neighbors. That wasn't a problem, since after over 30 years, I'm still the "new guy"!

I was passed unanimously at the traffic commission and from there it was sent to the full city council. It ended up on their consent calendar (so it wasn't even heard) and passed unanimously along with a slew of other items.

Within five days the city paint crew painted four parking spots in front of my house!

Who says you can't fight city hall?!?!


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

proffsionl said:


> The good news is that there are two items in play here. First, the HOA is somewhat flexible as long as I let them know it will be here (to clean/load/unload). Second, I have been told by the management company that their ability to enforce any street parking rules is limited since these are public City of Austin streets. I'm still unclear on the facts around that bit.


Very same situation here. What I did was to get elected on the HOA board and was placed in charge of violations. I detailed out procedures for the future board to follow. One of the issues was the conflict of HOA rules on parking vs. the City, which allows it though unofficially. Basically they told me they allow up to 72 hours for loading & unloading. So that was adopted into the HOA procedures, basically the HOA thinks they own the streets, but they don't. Sadly the current board isn't enforcing much so I fear a backlash that might try to limit the 72 hour rule.


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## nynethead (Sep 23, 2005)

My town allows trailers, but you have to be 15 feet off the property line.

of course my driveway runs down the line, but my neighbor told me they always wanted to but a trailer and take their now grown children camping.

they regret never doing it, so they do not care. i extended my driveway about 5 feet for the tires so more than half the trailer is behind a tree blind.

so they only need to see half, and whenthey are on their deck they are higher than the roof anyway.


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## 7heaven (Jun 4, 2005)

Our subdivision covenants permit you to have your TT on your property as long as beyond the back of your house. With the slope behind our house, it would take too many months at the $30/month storage fee to pay for all the grading, etc. to keep it at our house....


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

I live in a gated community, and there are rules concerning this.......put up a privacy fence/lattice work, etc., to shield it from view. However, like many of you face, the terrain is not conducive to erecting a fence (my house sits on a slab of stone......tell ya anything??), but I'm working on it, out of courtesy to my neighbors. However, there are anything from pop-ups, boats and even Class As right in clear view. I think the main thing is to keep them presentable. I've had no complaints from neighbors and have asked them to please come to me vs the POA if they do have a problem.
Darlene


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## Northern Wind (Nov 21, 2006)

We keep the 5th wheel parked beside the house all the time, the city has never said anything but the neighbourhood association has sent me several letters all of which went in the shredder after first reading! For what I pay in taxes, $4600 per year I will dam well park what I want on my property, I do keep it neat and tidy, covered in the winter and built a gravel pad for it, I checked with the neighbour beside us and he has no problem and until the neighbourhood association pays for a secure place to store it and 24 hour security for it, they can learn to deal with it!

Steve


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## Water Witch (Jun 8, 2009)

Kill Devil Hills zoning ordinance states that you can have one RV under 32 fett total length. Must be out of front yard
setback. The front yard setback is 16', so that pretty much (legally) rules out anything in front of the house. I park mine right in the front yard setback on a nice stone semi-circular pad (so I don't have to back up; don't even want
to go there). I had 2 visits from one of our friendly, neighborhood building inspectors who said "someone complained".

First visit: He said I could park it parallel with my house (yeah right; beach bldg regs: all houses within a specified flood zone - the whole island - are on 8' pilings - would more than likely knock my house right off the pilings because I would have to BACK UP - IN SAND - not even an option). Funny, he didn't seem to care about side yard setbacks....Basically, move it.

Second visit: He said "why haven't you complied?" I handed him a list of addresses and names (off the property tax records) of 23 other RV's withing Town limits in violation of front yard setbacks. There may be more, but I got tired of riding all around Town.

Final resolution: He gave me the list back and said "don't plug it in and keep the slide in".

Alls well that ends well....


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## LostHighway (Jul 23, 2007)

I had to look ours up as I had my Outback parked in our side yard last week. I found the info on the Good Sam's site. Our local ordinance is aimed mostly at commercial vehicles and trailers but does include Rv's and travel trailers OVER 12000 lbs. SO I don't have a thing to worry about with the Outback.


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## RGLang (Aug 17, 2009)

We can park just about anywhere. We keep our Outback in the drive next to the house. We have an SOB a few blocks away who parks his Salem in the front yard broadside just off the street.( about 3' off )


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## webeopelas (Mar 11, 2006)

The neighborhood I currently live in told me no RVs PERIOD. When I pushed about loading and unloading, he relented and said okay but not overnight. Well I have left it on the street overnight a couple of times and so far so good.

County also restricts parking on the street to 5 days on each end of a trip, problem is the street I know is county is in front of my house, but is always full of cars.

My current house (not the one in my sig picture. Owner got forclosed on, had to move out of that one) has a separate garage with an alley way so no driveway to put stuff in. Neighbors either have 4 to 5 adult children living with them or they are sub-renting because they have 5 to 6 cars on the street at all times.

When I stop moving every 3 years, one of my top prerequisites for a home will be the ability to park my RV there.


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

Scoutr2 said:


> But limiting size, etc, is discriminatory, unless they can show a reason for the limitations. Not liking the looks of an RV sitting in your driveway is not a valid legal reason for the limitations, either. A city can regulate safety but they cannot legally regulate aesthetics. This point has been argued and won in most states.


But it's never that simple in real life. It's easy enough to argue that an 11 foot high, 30 foot long trailer sitting in the front of your driveway blocks the view down the street sufficiently to be a safety issue.

I am curious about the idea that the association can't regulate parking on the public street. One time years ago I worked 1.5 hours from home, and ended up "camping" in a 23 foot class C in the parking several nights a week to save the drive. The police were finally called (when somebody dumped some garbage and it got blamed it on me) and they told me it was against city ordinance, but that if I drove off into a residential area a couple blocks away nobody could do anything if I was legally parked.


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## bonseye (Oct 16, 2007)

raynardo said:


> I don't have any room on my property to park my OB but my hometown has laws that restrict RV parking. It appears that these laws aren't stringently enforced since several people within a few hundred yards of my home have RV's in their driveways or side yards.
> 
> I keep my OB at an RV storage facility less than a mile from my home. Unfortunately that is expensive - to the tune of $2500 per year.


We have a seasonal site that we go to every weekend for $2300 year with free winter storage.....you could store your unit and have some free vacations.....


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## matchbox20girl (Sep 10, 2009)

We have a city ordinance stating it must be parked behind the front edge of the house so as not to block the view of any neighbors...but this ordinance was NEVER enforced until last summer due to a dispute between 2 neighbors. They got into it, and the neighbors reported the others for having a 5th wheel in the driveway NOT beside the house, and she went around town noting the addresses of all who had trailers NOT behind their houses. Sigh. I was NOT happy to receive my letter, because my space is VERY tight but I do manage to get it in there.

Earlier this spring though my next-door neighbors on the other side of the fence vandalized my trailer for about $1000, so I'm looking for alternative storage. I will say it is frustrating not to be able to park my personal property here when I PAY personal property taxes on it.


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

I live in a small township if you blink your through it








I park ours about 10' from our the side of the house 
I don't believe we any regulations against it

Don


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## Kenstand (Mar 25, 2004)

raynardo said:


> I keep my OB at an RV storage facility less than a mile from my home. Unfortunately that is expensive - to the tune of $2500 per year.


Is there an extra zero at the end of that number? Geez!!


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

Kenstand said:


> I keep my OB at an RV storage facility less than a mile from my home. Unfortunately that is expensive - to the tune of $2500 per year.


Is there an extra zero at the end of that number? Geez!!
[/quote]

Nope, $2500 it is. In fact, this week I'm going to pay another six months rental.









Although this is not an enclosed building, it does have a roof for protection, and I believe (hope) this will save me money on OB roof maintenance.


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## cabullydogs (Jul 12, 2008)

We can only have ours in the driveway for 3 days a month for loading/unloading. Which is fine by me. The trailer is a huge eye sore in the driveway and I would never want it here all of the time and I can imagine how my neighbors would feel staring at it every day.

I believe if it was out of site from the street we could keep it.


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## CalifRVers (Oct 16, 2009)

In our city, we can have an RV parked for no more than 48 hours on the street and/or driveway. We had a neighbor whom I do not get along with of course call the city about our boat parked in front of our house for 5 days and found out about the city ordinance, personally I'm okay with it.

Just down the street there is a broken down old trailer that they do not take care of, looks bad, makes the neighborhood look bad, the same goes for broken down old cars, it is an eyesore. Now I don't compare our new travel trailer as an eyesore, but when you live in the city limits in sub-divisions its part of living there.

I would love to have gated RV parking along side my house, but we don't have the room so we simply store ours 4 miles away. Heck I don't think we could get our Outback into the driveway anyway..


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