Palatine finds 13 feet too long for RV parking exception
Palatine village council members decided to stick to the letter of a local law by denying a resident's request to permanently park a recreational vehicle at his house that would have well exceeded a length limit.
Dave Richards intended to begin parking his 35-foot RV at his Carpenter Drive house to make it more convenient for him, his daughter and her family to use it. His daughter lives about 2 miles away in Palatine. Richards is paying for RV storage in a town about 25 minutes away.
Richards' motor home exceeds by 13 feet a 22-foot limit in a Palatine ordinance. Despite a positive recommendation from the zoning board of appeals, the village council declined to grant an exception for Richards at a recent meeting.
Councilman Tim Millar was part of a 6-0 vote against Richards' request.
"My main concern is, from a policy standpoint, this isn't the road we want to go down - I guess pun intended, right?" Millar said.
Councilman Kollin Kozlowski said Richards' request to have permanent parking for a motor home 13 feet beyond the 22-foot limit was too much.
"It's almost 50 percent more than our code even allows," Kozlowski told Richards. "And I know it's an inconvenience when you're planning a trip."
Parking for RVs, such as motor homes and boats, periodically surfaces as a lightning-rod issue in the suburbs, pitting residents who want to store them on their property against others who complain about them being unsightly.
For example, the Batavia city council in late 2016 began considering stricter rules for RV parking at homes in reaction to neighborhood complaints.
In the Palatine case, the village's local law requires RVs to be screened so neighborhood residents cannot see them along with the 22-foot length limit. Richards said the variance he wanted from the village ordinance was proper because his house is bordered by a marsh, utility lines and two homes that don't have views of his property.
"It is completely screened on all sides," said Richards, who moved from Springfield about five years ago to be close to his daughter, her husband and the couple's three children.
Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen said RV owners are allowed to bring them home a maximum of 10 times a year for two days at a time, with the idea of allowing for loading, unloading and other tasks. RVs are prohibited from parking on Palatine streets at all times
"It always has to be on a paved surface," Ottesen said. "You can't put it off to the grass or anything."