It has taken a while, but the Great Bend City Council Monday night approved a recreational vehicle parking ordinance revision.

“This thing has taken a life of its own,” City Administrator Kendal Francis said. “It morphed in several directions.

During the Nov. 2 council meeting, Josh Blankenship and Danyon Holden expressed concerns about the ordinance pertaining to parking recreational vehicles on their property. According to the current ordinance, one can legally park a recreational vehicle on their property as long as the recreational vehicle is aligned with the front of the house. 

If it does not comply, the owner can be fined. Both felt said this infringed on their rights as property owners, and wanted a change. 

After much discussion, the council set a work session to study the ordinance. At that Nov. 16 session, the council instructed staff to update the current ordinances concerning the definitions of a mobile home and a recreational vehicle, as well as the permitted parking of RVs.

Definitions were updated based on the Kansas Department of Revenue’s definitions.

The change was on the Dec. 7 agenda, but there were questions about how corner lots would be addressed. So, it was tabled to this week so those guidelines could be clarified.

City Administrator Kendal Francis offered three versions. In each, the definitions have been updated utilizing the Kansas Department of Revenues’ definitions for both mobile homes and recreational vehicles. 

The differences revolve around how corner lot properties are treated. Additionally, permitted parking has been changed to clarify that the entirety of the RV, including the hitch, must be behind the front of the house, which has also defined.

Francis had also contacted other cities to see what they do, and their responses were widely varied. With this in mind, he brought three versions: 

• Version one used language from other ordinances regarding corner lots having two front yards. To help clarify, they added definitions for front yard and primary elevation.

Additionally, permitted parking has been changed to clarify that the entirety of the RV, including the hitch, must be behind the primary elevation.

• Version two treated a corner lot the same as any other property by stating that the front of the house shall be defined as the elevation nearest the street by which the home is addressed.

• Version three was essentially the same as the status quo, with modifications. The RVs could be parked anywhere on a property, as long as no portion of it impeded traffic or vision and it was stored on an improved surface.

The final version was added after Francis visited with Councilman Junior Welsch, who had received calls from his constituents. If the owner pays taxes and doesn’t interfere with traffic, “they should be able to park where they want,” Welsch said. 

He spoke with those at Harper Camperland who expressed concerns about RV owners starting to store their vehicles out of the county. Perhaps they may start purchasing them elsewhere, as well.

But, “I don’t want to walk out my front door and see a damn camper,” Councilman Alan Moeder said. “It degrades the neighborhood.”

Welsch moved to vote on option three, but it failed 3-5.

Councilwoman Jolene Biggs, who agreed with Moeder, moved for option one. This passed 5-3.