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Council weighs changes to ordinance on non‑self‑propelled vehicles; staff to redraft for April 3
Summary
Centerville councilors discussed amendments to proposed ordinance 01-2025 on recreational vehicles and trailers, focusing on enforcement practicality, screening/fencing requirements and how to treat boats seasonally. Council asked the town attorney to prepare a revised draft for the April 3 meeting.
Centerville councilors spent a lengthy portion of the March 20 meeting debating proposed revisions to ordinance 01‑2025, which would regulate non‑self‑propelled vehicles (trailers, campers and similar equipment) parked in town.
At the meeting the sponsor summarized two main concerns heard during public testimony: the financial burden on homeowners required to build screening or fencing, and enforcement practicality. Councilors agreed to strike the ordinance’s screening/fencing requirement (staff will remove the section that would have mandated screening) and to make a small wording change in section C to require that a recreational vehicle be “operable and is currently registered to the owner or occupant of the property.”
Members discussed the existing 48‑hour allowance for staging a trailer during loading/unloading or launching and how that interacts with common summer uses such as boat trailers kept hitched for weekend trips. Multiple councilors asked staff to investigate whether a seasonal exemption for boat trailers (for example, April–October) — coupled with a hitch requirement — would be legally defensible and administrable. The council also agreed to add explicit language that prohibits occupancy of a recreational vehicle or trailer either on a public right‑of‑way or on private property for use as an accessory dwelling.
Council Vice President Kiel (first name only provided) and a former code‑enforcement staffer both argued that the proposed approach (a more general prohibition on street parking of trailers rather than a moment‑in‑time “must be hitched” rule) would be easier to enforce. One councilor recounted counting roughly 58 trailer violations during prior code‑enforcement work — a figure used as background for the enforcement discussion.
The council did not vote on final language but asked the town attorney (Sharon) to prepare an updated ordinance reflecting the discussed edits and to put the item on the April 3 meeting agenda for further consideration.
