Mount Pleasant work session weighs rules for trailers, RVs and accessory dwelling units

Mount Pleasant officials spent substantial time discussing how to regulate trailers and RVs used as housing and how accessory dwelling unit (ADU) guidance from the state affects local code.

Staff and council members described recurring situations in which trailers are occupied on private lots, sometimes without sewer hookups, with large propane tanks and other conditions that raise safety and neighborhood concerns. Participants said trailers are located both on private property and occasionally in right-of-way areas, and that enforcement is difficult when occupants are not property owners.

Speakers discussed possible rule elements: require trailers used as housing to be connected to city sewer and water and have the sewer clean-out on the property (not in the right-of-way); prohibit occupation in right-of-way; allow temporary occupancy during active building permits while a house is being constructed; require limits on the number of trailers per lot so a site does not function as an RV park; and address safety risks such as large propane tanks and improper waste disposal.

Several participants noted state direction on ADUs requires municipalities to allow them but permits local jurisdictions to define standards. Staff said a draft accessory-dwelling ordinance is in preparation and that the trailer/RV code revisions should be coordinated with the ADU work.

Work-session members agreed to begin drafting ordinance language that would include utility hookup requirements, limits on placement and parking, and enforcement provisions. No ordinance was adopted at the meeting; staff were asked to return with draft language for review.