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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRECREATIONAL VEHICLES ON PLEASURE ISLANDINTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM To: STEVE FITZGIBBONS, CITY MANAG~ rxoM: PAUL BROWN, SENIOR PLANNER sus~cr: RECREATIONAL VEHICLES ON PLEASURE ISLAND DAT& 12/10/2009 This report is intended to explain how and when recreational vehicles (RVs) have been allowed to be used as dwellings on Pleasure Island. In the following I will show that the City Code of Ordinances allowed RVs to ` , be used as dwellings on Pleasure Island .until the adoption on 09/23/2008 of Ord. 08-101, which City Council approved during an emergency meeting held before residents were allowed to return to their homes after Hurricane Ike struck the area on Sept. 13, 2008. This change to the City Code was not realized until supplementary pages were distributed for insertion into the Code Book sometime during September ` 2009. Beginning as far back as July 14, 1980, RVs were authorized for use as dwellings on Pleasure Island, as indicated by Ordinance 80-58, which is attached to this report along with several other pertinent ordinances. My research indicates that Ord. 80-58 created a new subsection addressing RVs within Chapter 58 (Manufactured Homes, Mobile Homes, Recreational Vehicles and Parks) of the Port Arthur City Code of Ordinances. The wording was as follows: Section 3 Location of Recreational Vehicles Restricted No recreational vehicle used as a dwelling shall be pazked or placed.. on any tract of land within the City Limits which is not properly zoned for such use; except, however, that this section shall not apply to the lands of Pleasure Island. I also found the same language allowing mobile homes on Pleasure Island in Ord. 76-04, dated 1/19/76. , Through the years the permission for RVs to be occupied on Pleasure Island remained in the City Code, sometimes being -listed as Subsection (1) under 58-122 and sometimes as (a) under 58-122. I have attached the following ordinances that address the issue of RV dwelling permission on 1 Pleasure Island: Ordinances 80-58, 05-81, 06-46, 06-120, 07-66, 07-74, and 08-101. The ordinances dated in 2006 and 2007 extend the period of time residents may continue to live in RVs until repairs are completed on their homes. Since the purpose of the ordinances was to extend the period of time, item (1) -which gives permission for RVs as dwellings on Pleasure Island -was retained intact. But following landfall of Ike on 9-13-2008, City Council provided permission for Ike victims to live in RVs on their property while their homes were repaired. In this ordinance, item (1) for RVs on Pleasure Island was omitted from 08-101 and the permission for Ike victims became the new item (1). Possibly because this action was prepared and adopted during emergency session, the resulting change was not noticed until the Supplement 22 was inserted into Code Books, which happened sometime during September 2009. Basically, City Council removed permission for RV dwellings on the Island on Sept. 23, 2008. Since various residential subdivisions have been located on Pleasure Island, the appropriateness of RVs as dwellings should be addressed. Numerous residents in Lafitte's Landing I and II have expressed to me their wishes foi• a ban on RVs used as dwellings anywhere outside of the two existing RV Parks on the Island. 2 RECEIVED DEC 1 1 1009 Cm' MANAGER'S OFFICE Memo To: Steve Fitzgibbons, City Manager ~~~~ From: Lawrence Baker, Director of Code Enforcement Date: December 11, 2009 Re: Recreational Vehicles on Pleasure Island (3590 S. Martin Luther King Parkway.) Parking of recreational vehicles along Lafitte's Landing I 5 II is not allowed. Those areas are zoned SF residences. Over the past we have been notifying. owners that RV's can not be placed. on vacant properties in this area. The ordinance does allow a homeowner to occupy a recreational vehicle on a temporary basis if their. main. residence has been destroyed by fire or a hurricane. But you must have a main residence on the lot. In the instance with Ms. Coursey she was mistakenly inform by staff that it was permissible to park .her RV on a vacant piece of land in Lafitte' s Landing II to use as a fishing cabin. This approval was incorrect. When this was brought to my attention I directed my Inspector to inform Ms. Coursey that the RV would have to be moved.' I investigated this incident and found that Ms. Coursey met with representatives from Planning and Zoning and one of my inspectors's before proceeding with the plan to place a RV in Lafitte's Landing. Based on that meeting she moved forward with her plan to acquire a RV and use it as a fishing camp. This was an honest error on our part. I have since informed Ms. 'Coursey o£ this error and that the RV would have to be relocated. She did indicate to me during the course of our conversations that she would like to build a home in the future. However she does not have any immediate plans to W do so at this time. 1 -„ `~ f She has been given until December 17, 2009, to move the recreational vehicle. In spite of the confusion it is still a violation o£ the Zoning Ordinance and it has\to be enforced. I have also directed my staff that in the future all inquiries regarding RV'S in and on Pleasure Island will have to be reviewed by me. I did stress that recreational vehicles are not allowed in Lafitte's Landing I b II. Both are zoned for single Family residences. I have also directed my staff to inform any other property owners who have placed recreational vehicles in that area; that it is a violation and they will have.to move them. In addition I have received information from Entergy that the service at the RV was turned on without notification From our office which is •customary (See Exhibit C). Our records do not indicate a permit was issued for the service at the site although Ms. Coursey had engaged the services o£ an electrician to perform the work. We do not have a record of ever performing an electrical inspection at this site. • Page 2 § 58-92 PORT ARTHUR CODE Act, as amended (Vernon's Ann. Civ. St. art. 5221fj or any rules or regu- lations issued pursuant to such act. c. Be permanently connected to the city water and sewer system. (2) The tongue of the manufactured home shall be removed from the unit. (Code 1961, § 13A-13) Sec.. 58-93. Skirting standards. In order to improve the stability and fire resis- tance of the manufactured home and to prevent the accumulation under the unitof blowing paper and trash or harborage of rodents or other poten- aial disease vectors, each manufactured home shall meet the fdllowing standards: {1) Unless the.foundation is continuous, each. unit: shall kaSe a continuous skirting of nondecaying; noncorroding, fireproof ma- terial eatehding at least six inches into (2) The skirting or continuous foundation shall have provisions-for ventilation and access to the space under the unit, but such openings hall'be secure against the en- trance;ofanmals. There shall be 12 square inches=of vented air spaces for each 12 lineaz feet of skirting or continuous foun- dation. (Code 1961, § 13A-14) Sec. 58-94. Temporary mobile home parks. In azeas outside of the hurricane protection levee and on property that the zoning ordinance of the City of Port Arthur permits the constrnc- tion of a mobile home pazk, a temporary mobile home park may be established subject to the following: (1) All manufactured housing placed in such park shall be removed within six months of the effective date of Ordinance No. 06-16 [Mazch 2Q, 2006]. (2) All manufactured housing shall be in- stalled and tied down to the standards as established by the Texas Department of Housing and CommunityAB'airs and other applicable codes and standards. Supp. No. 22 ~^^ t-f (3) -All infrastructure-installed to support the temporarylocationofmanufacturedhomes, such as water, sewer, electrical, etc. shall ' be removed within 30 days of the removal of the manufactured housing and the site returned to its original condition. (4) Such mobile parks shall require approval by the city council. (Ord. No. 05-8, § 3, 10-13-2005; Ord. No. 06-16, § 1, 3-14-2006; Ord. No. 06-46, § 3, 7-5-2006) Secs. 58-95=58-120. Reserved. ARTICLE III. RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARRS Sec., 58-121.- Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used im this .article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the Recreational vehicle (RV) means a vehiculaz type unit, not exceeding eight feet in width; primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use, which has its own motive power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. The basic entities aze: travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper, motor home or other individual camping unit. Recreational aehicle park (RV park) means a parcel of land under single ownership upon which two or more recreational vehicle sites aze located, established or maintained for occupancy by recre- ational vehicles of the general public as tempo- rary living quarters for recreation or vacation purposes. Recreational uekicle site (RV site) means a plat of ground within a recreational vehicle park in- tended for the accommodation of a recreational vehicle on a temporary basis. (Code 1961, § 13A-36) Cross-reference-Definitions generally, § 1-2. Sec. 58-122. Location of recreational vehi- cles. No recreational vehicle used as a dwelling shall be pazked or placed on any tract of land or CD58:10 MANUFACTURED HOMES, MOBII:E HOMES, RECREATTONAL VEHICLES AND PARKS ~ § 58-123 adjacent private land within the city limits; which (2) _ Shall not apply to an occupied residence is not properly zoned for such use; except, how- or residences that have been damaged by ever, that this section: - fire, flood or other natural disaster; (1) Shall not apply to residences that were a. Upon approval of the city council; damaged,bp Hurricane Ike; b. For a period not to exceed 180 days, a. For a period not to exceed 90 days, the parking, use and occupancy of the pazking, use and occupancy of recreational vehicles on residential recreational vehicles on residential Property as temporary living quaz- property as temporary living quaz- ters while repairs to these properties ters while repairs to these properties aze ongoing. caused by Hurricane Ike aze ongo- (Code 1961, § 13A-37; Ord. No. 05-8, § 2, 10-13- - 2005; Ord. No. 06-46, § 2, 7-5-2006; Ord. No. mg. 06-120, § 2, 12-19-2006; Ord. No. 07-66, § 1, b. That it is hereby permitted that the building official of the city issue a permit to allow the occupancy of a recreational vehicle for a period of six months, beyond the 90-day pe- riod, on a residential property as temporary living quarters by prop- erty owners while-damage to these -- progerEres caused=by Humc-any-Ike - is being repaired, provided that; 1: Application to the building offi- cial for asix-month extension . permit shall be made no later than 90 days from the effective date of this section. 2. Application must be made with all necessary documentation to establish one of the following: i. Substantial work is -cur- rently being done under an active building permit issued by the city-, ii. Active litigation is under- way with the property owner s insurance carrier; iv. Application for disaster re- covery funds has been made to the City of Port Arthur; Southeast Texas Regional Planning Com- mission, or the Texas De- partment of Housing and Community Affairs and is approved or pending ap- proval. 9-11-2007; Ord. No. 07-74, § 1, 9-25-2007; Ord. No. OS-101, § 3, 9-23-200$) Sec. 58-123. Approval of plans and plats re- quired. (a) Any person intending to establish a recre- ational vehicle pazk shall first submit: a site plan. meeting all=t ee req~uirements-oft2us articleto the planning and zoning commission of the city for consideration and -approvah (b) The applicant shall submit one reproduc- ible copy of. the plan to the city planning and zoning commission through the director of plan- ning not.less than eight days prior to any meeting at which the plan is to be considered. (It is urged that the applicant first meet with the director of planning of the city to discuss the intended devel- opment to ensure-compliance with the basic re- quirements and to arrive at a coordinated plan layout.) The plan. shall consist of an accurate drawing at a scale of not more than 200 feet to the mch, which shows -the exact dimensions of the tract of land under consideration, its relationship to existing and proposed streets and contiguous properties, the type and use of al] adjacent prop- erty, access provisions, and the exact land use proposed for the entire tract, including screening devices, private streets, recreational vehicle. sites, usable open space, parking, lighting, utilities, structures, and any other items required to prop- erly describe the proposed pazk layout. No person shall alter a recreational vehicle pazk to the extent of changing or significantly adding to that which is shown on the site plan on file with the planning and zoning commission without first Supp. No. 22 CD58:11 12/09/09 08:54:56 CHK 6/02/09 fees F9=Req'd insp Page 1 of l Lawrence Baker From: "DICKINSON. JOANNE" <jdicki1@entergy com> To: <baker1@portarthur.net> Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 11:15 AM Subject: 3590 South Martin Luther King Drive Mr. Baker In response to your inquiry, Entergy Texas. Inc has reviewed its records and is not able to locate notification from your office approving the turning on of electricity at 3590 South Martin Luther King Drive in Port Arthur. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me Jo~~nne Dickinson Supers-isor. West 1~~1onr~~e_ CSC 1 R-470-4> S j Safety starts with "S" but begins with "U':~ 12! 10/20(.)9