Same attempt...different politician

[garyhaupt]

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2017/03/20/anchorage-ban-on-rv-camping-in-parking-lots-mak...


Gary Haupt

[c_traveler2]

In the summer 2015 my wife and I spent 34 days in Alaska and we have a Lance 815 side in camper on a 2007 F250, Anchorage was one of those city we stopped in. My view of the people in Anchorage is that most of them are friendly and willing to help out a stranger in town.

I believe each business should set up their own rules about over night parking and over night parking isn't camping at least to me.

RV parking restrictions has been tried in many places, once in place hard to get rid of and sometime there's place under false reasoning or some politician has something to personally to gain.

Even where I live the city counsel was smart enough to place a big loop hole in their RV parking restriction.

We're looking to visit Alaska again in the summer of 2018 and see more of your wonderful state.

[PA12DRVR]

"Campground owners aren't behind this the wannabe Suburbanites are."....can't speak to the wannabe "Suburbanites", but there is at least one campground owner behind this.

"They will just have to learn to live with the unintended consequences and drop in tourism." The State of Alaska rules regarding registration of vehicles (and the corollary rules regarding drivers licenses) aren't changing, regardless of the success or failure of any MOA action to impact "camping" in parking lots. Those registration / license rules are routinely ignored and, empirically, are not high on the enforcement priority list, at least not around Los Anchorage.

[EEWally]

In our 2014 trip, that Golden Nugget RV park was the most expensive in Alaska.

[2gypsies1]

D.E.Bishop wrote:
Next week it will be anyone spending more than ten days in any one spot will be required to register their vehicles in AK. I have no idea where temporary help for the summer will come from and the Tax and Spenders didn't think of that.

According to the web site, it states anyone working or establishing residency needs to register 10 days of entering the state or taking a job. I'd be curious if that would mean a 'temporary seasonal' job. It wouldn't mean tourists.

http://doa.alaska.gov/dmv/reg/require.htm

[D_E_Bishop]

How many RV Parks are within walking distance of Anchorage? A lot? ONE?

Campground owners aren't behind this the wannabe Suburbanites are.

Next week it will be anyone spending more than ten days in any one spot will be required to register their vehicles in AK. I have no idea where temporary help for the summer will come from and the Tax and Spenders didn't think of that.

They will just have to learn to live with the unintended consequences and drop in tourism.

[PA12DRVR]

This particular ordinance is, as expected, being pushed by an RV park owner. I will give some credibility to Eric's interest in the generic topics he's mentioned as the reason for trying to progress it.

Los Anchorage tends to get quite a bit "weirder" in the summer (not because of the RV crowd) which, along with the general increase in people/activity in the summer, creates a corresponding further burden on law enforcement, general services, etc. RV parking on parking lots is a part, albeit small part of this larger "problem".

Without getting into deep waters, one of the burdens on "law enforcement" in Anchorage that has become incredibly larger over the past several years is dealing with the "homeless": and I use that term to cover everything from providing "rescue' services to addressing burdensome vagrancy to minimizing traffic issues related to panhandlers...the whole bucket. When parking lots turn into quasi-residential areas, they tend to attract a higher degree of these sort of issues and require a degree of services more akin to residential areas than to parking lots that are empty for the late night hours. Even if the parking lots are private property (which they are, but since they cater to the public, they're significantly burdened with regulation anyway), there is an increased municipal interest if that property is used partially for overnight or longer stays than if used strictly for parking.

...but in the end, again, this is for darn sure not the biggest issue facing Los Anchorage. Some of those issues may well be better defined in a few weeks (after the MOA elections) but they involve the basics such as schools, teachers, firefighters, taxes....the usual suspects.

[fulltimedaniel]

I am sure I will be jumped by some that follow anything negative about RV Parks and their owners but this kind of ordinance is often proposed and pushed by the RV Parks.

I can't really blame them too much but since most are beyond full in Alaska during the season it is odd.

The problem is that there are few places that you can park and RV even in a city as RV Friendly as Anchorage.

If what they are trying to stop is the "Tom Joad's" of the Rv'ing world, ie those that would set up and literally live in a parking lot for a season, which I think is unreasonable, then it would make more sense to put a time limit on the stay, say of 3 nights in any 30 days.

It really is private property we are talking about here and it is really up to the store manager to manage this situation in accordance with his judgement and company policies. I can't see the cities interest in it except to cater to the RV Park industry in their town.

[PA12DRVR]

Probably not something to get too fussed about either way, but speaking as a (then and now) full-time resident of Los Anchorage, I'd support this sort of ordinance if it had a provision like the 24-hour suggestion.

Of course, it's not anyone on this board (:) ) but some of the folks that descend on the local parking lots in the summer get a bit carried away.....and sometimes it has been the number of "campers" .....but either way it's not the biggest problem facing Anchorage or Alaska.

[sljohnson1938]

we stayed at the Golden Nugget this past year in July. Ok place, but I could not get WIFI to work, had to go into office. Not sure if it was me or them. But I did not have any problems any where else. We also stayed at Cabelas for one night. Only problem there was the RV next to us had a barking dog when they were gone. of course it did not bother them since they were gone.

[trailerbikecamp]

I lived in NE Alberta for a while. While I was there, one of the town councillors came up with the idea that all RV had to be parked with the front of the RV behind the front plane of the house. Since almost all new house have no access to the backyards and only have front driveways this would have forced RV owners to pay for RV storage. The idea came from the councillor that coincidentally owned a storage facility.

The day that the proposal was to be voted on, almost every RV owner went to the meeting. It was also explained, by the population, that if it passed no currently sitting council member would ever see the inside of the chamber again, except as a visitor. The RV proposal was quickly voted down.

[Winnebago_Bob]

LOL. Down here in Seattle you can park anywhere and camp as long as you claim homelessness or are a heroin addict.

Good times.

[dave17352]

Interesting. In my travels here and there I just really haven't seen a great deal of problems caused by rv's in big parking lots over night. Seems like a big tadoo about nothing. But oh well

[K_Charles]

And if the RV park is full can we park in his yard for the night?

[Lwiddis]

Ask Mr. Croft if he is seeking campaign contributions from RV park owners.