Camp Verde council hears fire district warning that RV and trailer parks shift firefighting costs; staff directed to research policy options

The Camp Verde Town Council met June 11 with the Copper Canyon Fire and Medical District Governing Board to hear how RV and trailer park parceling affects the fire district’s funding and service burden.

Fire Chief Danny Johnson provided an overview explaining that, because many RV and trailer parks are not parceled like typical residential subdivisions, those areas can be under-counted in funding formulas and may not generate tax or fee revenue proportional to the number of residents and the demand on emergency services. The council discussed policy options and asked staff to investigate possible remedies.

Council members and staff identified a set of specific research tasks for Town Manager Miranda Fisher and Town Attorney Trish Stuhan: whether limiting RV stays to less than 29 days would allow land to be taxed as commercial rather than residential; whether the town can require individual parceling of units in RV and trailer parks as a condition of approval for use permits; including the fire district in the town's development impact fee analysis; considering land allotments as part of development agreements; and evaluating whether RV and mobile home parks should be processed under a Planned Area Development rather than by use permit.

No formal ordinance or fee change was proposed or adopted at the meeting; the council’s action was to direct staff and legal counsel to research the legal and fiscal implications of the options discussed and report back to the council for potential policy action.