Temporary Use of Trailers for Living or Sleeping

[vintageracer]

I find discussions about HOA's and zoning laws to be amusing. In far too many situations those that are in violation of these "Laws" (City/County) & "Rules" (Homeowners Association HOA) were completely aware of or at a minimum provided these "Laws & Rules" prior to their purchase of their property and therefore by purchasing the property AGREED to accept these "Law & Rules" they now ignore!

The problems arise when changes in our likes, wants and desires cause us to make a purchase that is not allowed to be stored or used on our property. That's when the fight starts and you hear all those comments and insults about "It's not right to restrict MY use of MY property". The city or HOA is NOT restricting your use of your property. YOU already AGREED to restrict your own use of your own property when you signed the paperwork purchasing your property and accepting the City/County Laws and HOA Rules if applicable!

Yes city and HOA zoning and rules can change further restricting or lessening the restrictions YOU agreed to upon purchase of the property. Most if not all jurisdictions and HOA's must "grandfather" your property during your ownership to changes in rules that effect you the property owner either beneficially or adversely.

It all boils down to your original purchase of your property and YOUR answer to this question:

Are you willing to accept the "Laws & Rules" as stated/listed by the City/County and HOA at the time of your purchase of the property without regard to changes you may make in your lifestyle, wants and desires in the future?

If the answer is NO you should not buy the property in the first place and look elsewhere to purchase.

If YOU do not like the "Laws & Rules" YOU LEGALLY ACCEPTED & AGREED TO at the time of your property purchase MOVE as it's a great chance your neighbors will not like or accept the changes & exceptions you desire!

[tractors1]

Favorite local story is a couple who did everything right, got county building permits, and built an approved shop/garage on their property. City has a "beautification" ordinance that would not allow them to cut down a 30 ft tree in the middle of the driveway although the driveway was shown on the plans.

Tree mysteriously died the next year and the good neighbor next door filed a complaint with the city - the dead tree was a potential hazard that might fall on his house in a storm........

New firewood for both!

[RogerDat]

Knowing I own a school bus camper, and utility trailer, and have a backyard full of dog agility equipment when I went looking for a home I told relator I had no interest in places that had a HOA. Simply put my "stuff" would not fit their rules.

As for local township and county rules you know they vote on that stuff, they discuss it in these public meetings and people can show up and raise questions and issues. They can inform their neighbors and encourage them to show up. No one does as a rule however so those folks at least around here mostly try to do the best they can.

Things such as set back of buildings from property lines and not blocking sightlines at end of driveways are important to maintaining good relationship with ones neighbors. Stuff as simple as asking goes a long way. Sometimes one has to decide if annoying the neighbor is worth whatever benefit one gets from demanding they abide by "the rules".

I think I would be a little skeptical if someone wanted to live permanently or regularly in a camper on adjacent property. Like if the kid moved back home or whatever. We did have the folks next door in the old farmhouse doing it for a month or two while fixing it up. Or that could have been family staying in the 5th wheel while helping them, not sure. But they were not loud or especially messy. Kept their dogs to their own yard, nothing for me to complain about really.

Rules exist mostly to stop someone from doing something that they want to do. Why make a rule if no one wants to do it anyway?

This is actually funny. A local farmer with a really big farm has all sorts of trucks and trailers and equipment parked along the road across from his farm house. The township hauled him in to have a hearing on getting rid of it. Each item they named he pointed out a use he had for it thus it could stay right where it was. When they got to the Road Grader and he pointed out that his farm had miles of roads on the fields the township just gave up and ended the proceedings. Three weeks later it was all cleaned up, they called to ask him what changed. He said wife was having a bunch of old classmates over for a picnic and asked him to move it so he did.

Rules don't always work as intended. I had a neighbor stripped old cars for parts and worked on cars. Would haul what was left over to the scrap yard on a flat trailer. Township would file 30 day notice to appear for a hearing, 20 days later or so he would make a run to the scrap yard, show up at the meeting and point out there were no non-running or cars without valid plates on his property. Hearing over he would go back to hauling cars in for his side business. Now they could have tried to pass some more rules to deal with this one old fellow or they could just learn to live with it. Never got all that bad, his wife would complain and he would clean things up so none of his neighbors had to. Just some couple that moved there from the city and were "bothered" by the "mess". Far as I can see they should have looked around a bit before buying the house.

[Kai in Seattle]

We live on a corner slightly downhill from one direction of the main road. Sometimes people miscalculate that little slope and come around the corner and lose control and slide into our driveway area. We've lost a section of fence, we've had a decorative rock pile scattered all over the place, and last summer our mailbox was knocked down. If someone were sleeping in a rig out on the street, it'd be very possible for another driver to plow into them, possibly injuring or killing them. I can see the possible reasons to restrict you from sleeping in a street-parked rig, or from keeping one out by the curb...

That being said, we have several neighbors with their own camping rigs in their driveways, and no troubles about it. BUT these are actively used several times a year, and not hulks rotting with wild cats or hornets making homes in them.

I'd hope for the least restrictive rules that are reasonable if we had to deal with a home owners' association. We made sure "this time" when we bought that we had NO home owners' association, having "suffered" under one in our prefious house. They had ordinances that you couldn't fence your yard, even with a short, decorative fence, and we have dogs. Ridiculous to own land and still have to hook up your dogs every time they need to go out! Come to think of it, nobody in that neighborhood had a camping rig of any kind "on dislplay" in their driveways or extra parking areas. We didn't have a rig then.

Best to you.