The Savage City Council approved amendments to the zoning code related to the parking and storage of recreational vehicles, on Jan. 2.
“Before making any proposed amendments to the City Code, staff enlisted input from residents, conducted observations in the community, and researched 10 other cities in the south metro to compare regulations regarding the parking and storage of recreational vehicles,” Code Enforcement Coordinator Mitch Johnson wrote in a memo.
One of the changes is replacing motor vehicle with “self-propelled vehicle or vehicle propelled or drawn by a self-propelled vehicle.”
Another change was removing the 22-foot length restriction of motor homes, and adding fish houses, utility trailers, and personal watercraft as RV examples.
“We just want to clarify the definition and also provide additional examples of what a recreation vehicle is for clarity,” Johnson said
Other changes including clarifying the term “mowed regularly by referencing section 97.03 of the City Code regarding the maintenance of vegetation.” Seasonal restrictions for RVs parked on driveways was also removed as part of the changes. Residents are allowed up to three RVs on their property, and up to two can be parked on the driveway at any one time.
Johnson said that the original code was adopted in June of 2004, and potential changes to the code began to be looked at in the fall of 2022.
“Staff noticed some inconsistencies in our code with enforcement and wanted to clean things up a little bit,” he said.
Johnson said extensive research was done before bringing forward proposed changes, including having 292 surveys submitted by residents, receiving 49 comments from residents, and having five public hearings. He said in 2023, the city received 32 complaints regarding recreational vehicles.
“The changes I think are appropriate and well done, and I’m happy to approve it,” Councilmember Christine Kelly concluded.
