Input wanted on RV and boat parking in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The City of Wilmington is considering changing regulations for parking recreational vehicles that could affect homeowners who have corner lots.

The Wilmington City Council has been considering this issue for the last several months in response to a request from a property owner on a corner lot who owns a boat and cannot currently legally park the boat in the side yard. Because the change being proposed would impact properties all over the city, council members directed staff to get public input before considering the change again at their March 21 meeting.

Currently, city regulations require larger boats, RVs and trailers/campers in residential areas be parked in a garage, carport or accessory building, or inside a fence behind the house. Smaller vehicles no bigger than 6 feet high and 25 feet long can be parked on the side of the house, unless that side of the property is adjacent to the street. The proposed change would affect these homeowners who have corner lots in residential areas.

The city says the proposed amendment would allow smaller recreational vehicles no bigger than 6 feet high and 25 feet long to be parked in the corner side yard if it is concealed by a fence up to 6 feet tall to screen the RV from the view of the street and nearby property owners. Planning staff have recommended the proposed change be denied because it could have city-wide impacts and result in unintended consequences on properties because of varied conditions/situations across the city.

According to the staff report provided at the January 3 City Council meeting, the existing regulations are designed to help ensure visibility for drivers and pedestrians’ safety by preventing RV’s from being parked near the road or overhanging sidewalks. The regulations also help protect the character of residential neighborhoods by limiting fence “walls” adjoining neighborhood streets and sidewalks.

However, the regulations were put in place when houses were more likely to be closer together and located closer to streets, before large parts of the city were annexed and larger lot sizes became more commonplace. Along with getting public input, Council directed staff to have the consultants currently reviewing the city’s land use regulations look at this issue in particular to see if it is feasible to make a change now before considering revisions to the entire land use regulations, which is expected within the next year

The meeting will be held at Winter Park Baptist Church in the fellowship hall at 6:00 p.m.