After concerns and conversations about parking RVs (and other large vehicles) on public streets emerged last summer, the Cottonwood Heights City Councilmembers have been ruminating on a variety of perspectives voiced by residents. This left councilmembers divided in their opinions about how long large vehicles should be allowed to park on neighborhood roads. 

On Jan. 16, the Cottonwood Heights City Council picked up the conversation by discussing the option of changing the amount of time an RV could be parked on the public street or neighborhood road within the city’s ordinances. Mayor Mike Weichers wondered if the legal amount of time needed to be upped from two hours to 24 hours. 

Recreational vehicles (RVs) are defined in the city’s code as any vehicular unit other than a mobile home, primarily designed as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational, or vacation use, which is either self-propelled or pulled by another vehicle. The definition of recreational vehicle includes boats, snowmobiles, personal watercrafts, all-terrain vehicles, travel trailers, camping trailers, and fifth-wheel trailers. 

Councilmember Shawn Newell wondered if 24 hours wasn’t even long enough for some families. He had previously heard concerns from his constituents about the time limit as prepping and cleaning an RV could often take even longer.  

“It seems like 24 hours is not enough time to make adjustments to an RV, clean up an RV, and make sure it’s maintained and fixed,” Newell said. 

Councilmember Matt Holton had also heard from many residents voicing that two hours, 12 hours, and even 24 hours was just not a long enough time when considering weekend family vacations during the summer. 

Resident Logan Page echoed his concern to the full city council on Jan. 16, while requesting the allotment of time lean more towards a couple days than two hours.

“Two hours…is really not enough time to get a camper or boat ready for a trip and then get it unready from that trip,” Page said. “By the time you come home from a trip, it’s late in the evening and tomorrow is school. You got to get the kids ready so the trailer sits with its contents within it. In a two-hour window, I can’t effectively get it unpacked and take it back to my storage facility—let alone cleaned up.” 

From the opposite perspective, Councilmember Suzanne Hyland voiced her concern for traffic safety, as leaving RVs on public streets for stretched amounts of time can create visibility hazards for drivers.  

Cottonwood Heights Police Chief Robby Russo mentioned that Code Enforcement tends to only get calls about this issue when neighbors are taking advantage of the ordinance and causing hazards or nuisances. 

She mentioned even though she had issues with the 24-hour allotment, she would be willing to extend the two hours up to six hours. 

Councilmember Ellen Birrell favored Hyland’s remarks. She expressed wanting to be sympathetic to the residents who do own RVs, but also believes residents should be thinking about all that goes into owning such a vehicle, like storage. 

One additional point of concern shared by many residents to their councilmembers was an issue with overcrowding in the storage facilities. Residents were finding that the local storage facilities were becoming fully booked, so they could no longer adequately store their boats for RVs. 

“If the storage is out, then it’s a private sector problem and not a public sector problem,” Hyland said. 

Mayor Weichers wondered if residential driveways did not partially function as areas to clean, prep, and store RVs. 

After a lengthy discussion, most of the councilmembers seemed in favor of adjusting the previous two-hour parking allotment to 12 hours for a single parking stand in a one-week period. 

However, ‘controlled vehicles’ are still limited to those two hours of parking on a public street (within a single 24-hour period). Controlled vehicles include agricultural vehicles, tractor-trailers, commercial vehicles, semi-trucks, and any other truck in excess of one-ton capacity. 

Ordinance 407: Amending Code Section 11.20.060 (of the Cottonwood Heights Code of Ordinances) Concerning Parking Restrictions for Certain Vehicles was considered on Jan. 16. The ordinance specifies that parking a recreational vehicle on a public street for up to 12 hours allows “time for the vehicle to be readied for use or readied for storage after use.” 

Holton motioned to table the issue as he wanted additional time to analyze parking options within the city for residents within his area. His motion to table did not receive a second.

The motion to pass the ordinance to allow for RVs to be parked on public streets in residential areas for up to 12 hours in a week was motioned by Hyland and seconded by Birrell. The council vote ended up split as Hyland and Birrell both voted in favor and Newell and Holton voted in opposition. Mayor Weichers broke the tie with his ‘yes’ vote. 

Now, RVs (and other vehicles) may be parked on the public street outside of the residents’ home (dwelling) for up to 12 hours within any one-week period. 

To view Ordinance 407, visit the Cottonwood Heights City website and navigate to the “Recent Council Actions” page under the “Your Government” tab. 

This ordinance addresses Chapter 11, Section 20, Subsection 050 (Parking Prohibited in Specific Areas) of the city’s code. To view the Municipal Code visit: www.cottonwoodheights.municipalcodeonline.com

To read previous conversations about public street parking, visit the “Two-hour time limit for RV parking” article on The City Journals website.  λ