RV parking issue to be revisited

The City Council has voted to reconsider an ordinance for RV parking time limits May 15 after several residents complained that the parking limit of 192 days in a year was excessive.

Councilman Gil Coerper introduced the ordinance, which would limit RV parking on the street to 144 days per year.

According to Coerper, the measure would help give the police direction in handling complaints from residents who feel that large RVs parked in front of homes detract from the appearance of their neighborhood and create a public safety problem.

Council members Cathy Green, Jill Hardy and Don Hansen voted against the ordinance.

Green said the original 192-day parking time limit had worked well in the past and that the few complaints that had been received could be dealt with individually.

RV owners Jean and Bob Polkow asked council members to change the daily parking limit to an hourly one to give owners enough time to load and maintain their motor homes.

“Our rights have constantly been trampled on during the 35 years we have lived in Huntington Beach,” said Jean Polkow, who owns a 2006 motor home.

“It seems the city only adheres to the wishes of a few vocal minority complainers.”

Hansen said the 144-day parking ordinance was doing a disservice to the wrong people.

But Jack and Donna Patterson, Huntington Beach residents for 34 years, wrote to the council saying they believe no one needs 192 days in a year to prepare for a trip.

“[The] shorter time allowed on the streets, the better,” the Pattersons wrote in an e-mail.

The couple pay to store their RV and complained about a resident who uses the 16 days allowed in a month to park his RV on the street and stores it in his driveway the rest of the time.

The City Council will discuss and vote on the ordinance again at its next meeting before it’s adopted as law.