Mono County Addresses RV and Over-night Vehicle Parking

The uniqueness of Mono County and its Board of Supervisors was evident at last week’s meeting as they dealt with RV and vehicle parking issues outside existing rules and regulations. The Board’s approach was to recognize the obvious conflicts with societal norms: you don’t live in a vehicle, RV or anything smaller, unless parked in a designated area.  In Mono County’s tourist economy, severe winters and a shortage of conventional housing, the Board opted in favor of their people with the necessary legal steps to make it possible.

Wendy Sugimura, director of the Community Development Department, started her presentation by highlighting the legal fence that had to be straddled. Those living in what are defined as vehicles are considered “unhoused persons” according to Federal regulations. But, in Mono County, people often buy a lot for the express purpose of having a place to park their RV to recreate. Others have seasonal or permanent resident friends, who have offered up their driveway or property to host them and their RVs.  Another idiosyncrasy: governmental rule-makers don’t define an RV as a “home.”

Then there are RV parks, obviously a good choice but they close down during winter months since the chore of keeping the parking areas snow-plowed is monumental. A secondary hang-up is the County’s General Plan that requires RV parks to be a minimum of two acres. With level terrain at a minimum throughout the County, two flat acres could be a rarity.

Sugimura’s solutions, which the Supervisors agreed to, were a General Plan amendment reducing the minimum size for RV parks, identifying safe parking areas and evaluating County-owned lands that would be available for RV or overnight parking.