COMMISSION TAKES NO ACTION ON RV ISSUE

City plans to remove recreational vehicles from mobile home parks were thwarted for the third time Wednesday when the Planning and Zoning Commission failed to act on proposed changes to the city's "travel trailer" law.

The city council last week and in April also failed to take action on the matter, which was initiated by residents of a mobile home park who complained that recreational vehicles were set up as residences in the park.

The Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday night considered an amendment to a city law that would prohibit RVs in mobile home parks.

But some commissioners complained that the measure does little to change current law that's been on the books since 1968. Others said the current ordinance is too restrictive because it prohibits a RV owner from staying in his vehicle while visiting a resident of a mobile home park overnight.

The commission directed the city staff to draft a new measure that would specifically prohibit occupation of a RV only in a "rented space or pad" in a mobile home park.

Also, commissioner Dennis Vollink asked that the law include an amendment to the city code to allow owners of mobile home parks to designate specific lots for RV use for up to 14 days.

Larry Bannister, a park owner who attended Wednesday's commission meeting, said he thought current provisions are too restrictive and discourage developers from building a park specifically for RVs and travel trailers.

"I do not allow RVs in my mobile home park because I don't think they belong in a mobile home park," he said. "But we do have a need for sites for a RV park."

But Bannister said city laws prohibit such parks on less than three acres of property. The facilities also must include sewers, restrooms and showers.

"The way it's set up now, I don't think it's profitable to do it," he said. "If it was, somebody would be doing it already. The dollars just aren't there."

Commissioners Cleo Mabrey and R.J. McKinney said that without adequate sites for RV and travel trailer owners, the city discourages that group of visitors from coming to Cape Girardeau. The nearest travel trailer park is in East Cape Girardeau, Ill.

"We're crying our heads off for tourists and visitors to our city," said Mabrey. "But he comes in a RV and we say, `No you can't stay here overnight, you have to go to East Cape.'"

The council also has struggled with the issue, although members did approve a six-month permit for a RV in Evelyn Kee's mobile home park. Kee had asked for the permit for a Florida couple who visits annually during the summer months.

The earlier complaints about the RVs prompted a city inspection and planning staff investigation that found a total of 11 RVs set up as residences in three mobile home parks.

The options for dealing with the issue as framed by the city staff include:

Enforce existing laws and remove all RVs from mobile home parks.

Allow the currently occupied 11 RVs to remain, but upon change of ownership, voluntary movement or loss of use, the units would need to be removed or prohibited from returning.

Rewrite current law to allow RVs and mobile homes to be parked within approved areas without regard to usage.

Rewrite current law to permit small, limited areas or a few lots within mobile home parks for RV users.

In other business Wednesday, the commission recommended special-use permits for: Michael and Paula Haas for a storage and wood working shop at 543 S. Pacific; the First General Baptist Church, 1812 Cape LaCroix Road, for a mobile classroom; and Bruce Masterson and Norberto Velez for parking of a "meal truck" and a food preparation and storage station in a garage at 1826 Bloomfield Road.