Back-Seat Driver: It's summer -- when RVs irk some
By Tony Bizjak - Bee Staff Writer

Last Updated 6:17 am PDT Monday, July 9, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/262928.html

Come summer, plenty of Sacramentans load up the RVs for a vacation
getaway.

And that brings up a prickly neighborhood issue: Exactly how long is a
recreational vehicle owner allowed to park his RV in his driveway or
on the street in front of his house?

City officials say they get calls this time of year from residents
complaining about whales-on-wheels beached in neighborhoods day after
day, and even week after week.

"It starts after Easter break, and from then on through summer," Max
Fernandez says. He's the city of Sacramento's head of code
enforcement. "We investigate every complaint."

The rule, he says, is different for the area in front of the house as
opposed to the area alongside the house.

It's OK to store a motor home for long periods on a pad beside a
house, as long as the vehicle doesn't stick its nose in front of the
house, and as long as there is 5 feet between the vehicle and the
property line.

But the city ordinance says RVs -- or trailers, auto or trailer
coaches -- cannot be stored for more than 48 hours in the home's
"setback" area. That's basically the driveway or any spot between the
sidewalk and the front of the house. That's city ordinance 15.140.020.

Break the city's 48-hour rule and you could get a $100 ticket.

Fernandez points out the state vehicle code also says no vehicle can
be parked on the street for more than 72 hours.

There are so many junk cars decaying on city streets, it's hard to
keep up. Some sit for so long, they grow their own ecosystems, a code
officer once told us. Some have grass growing in the carpet, or weeds
growing in the wipers. One had polliwogs in it.

If the city gets a complaint about one of those, the warning and
ticket come quickly.

But, Fernandez says, in less serious cases, city code enforcement
officers take each situation as it comes, and they say, at least, they
try not to be hard-derrieres about it.

If a person really is loading or unloading the RV for a trip,
officials may give him some extra time, Fernandez says.

But, he says, you can't keep putting things in and taking things out.

"You can technically load and unload ad infinitum," he says. "To me,
48 to 72 hours is a reasonable amount of time."

If it's the first complaint, the city will cut you some slack, he
says. If it's the third complaint, then you're probably an
inconsiderate neighbor or just darn lazy, and code officers will be
quicker to order the vehicle removed and to issue a ticket.

Keep two things in mind, code officials say:

Your driveway and the street in front of your house are not storage
areas. And, if your neighbors think you have an eyesore out front,
chances are the city codes agree.

Sometimes they find people living in the motor homes on the street.
That's an easy call in most cases: Not legal. But people can get
temporary grants to live in trailers in emergencies.

* * *

Union Pacific, you'll remember, won hurrahs for quickly reassembling
its railroad trestle in the American River Parkway after that big fire
in mid-March.

Since then, however, bicycle commuters have been wondering: What about
us? The bike trail under that trestle remains torn up.

Now, county parks officials say, UP finally is going to finish the
job. Starting today, crews will rebuild a half-mile section of the
trail. The job should take about three weeks, the county's Dave Lydick
says.

Meantime, signs will point cyclists to two alternative detours.

By Lydick's count, it's the sixth straight year that some part of the
bike trail has been torn up.

"We thought this would be the summer finally with no torn-up
sections," he says, sighing.