Itasca to hold hearing on RV ordinance

Itasca residents can share their opinions this spring on whether the village should expand the time it allows recreational vehicles to be parked in residential driveways.

Members of the village board this week decided to hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. April 21 before the plan commission, which will determine whether to revise the parking ordinance for RVs, boats and trailers.

Itasca currently allows such vehicles to be parked in driveways from May 1 to Oct. 1 without being ticketed. But last fall, residents Jeff and Karen Helmig, along with a handful of others, asked the village board to extend that period from April 1 to Nov. 1.

During previous meetings, the RV owners aired concerns the current ordinance doesn't match the travel seasons. Helmig said they use RVs as vacation homes and lose out on their investment by storing the vehicles in faraway facilities, such as in Antioch or near Rockford, while the weather is still warm.

Itasca officials also decided this week to create temporary parking permits that would allow owners to request permission to park RVs in driveways this April.

Nicole Aranas, director of community development, said the permits will help RV owners take advantage of their hobby while waiting for the plan commission hearing. No cost has been determined for the permit, and Aranas said she doubts there will be any.

Officials released a survey to residents in 2007 when the issue came before the board. The survey garnered about 100 responses, with a majority of respondents against extending the parking season. So the ordinance was not changed.

But the Helmigs also gathered a petition in 2007 with roughly 1,000 signatures in favor of altering the ordinance.

The hearing at 7 p.m. April 21 will let residents revisit the issue by speaking at Itasca village hall, 550 E. Irving Park Road.