Council eyes RV code, road closure process

Two council members have asked to discuss items of concern in future meetings. Deputy Mayor Gary Knight and Councilman Mike Shelton respectively shared concerns they have, including the code prohibiting commercial vehicles from parking in residential areas and notifying the public about road projects.

During the Nov. 1 meeting, Knight pointed out a presentation made by Thomas Baxley during the Oct. 16 citizens forum, in which he said that owners of recreational vehicles could not comply with the current code. The council adopted a code amendment in August limiting the time permitted “for the standing, idling or parking” of certain commercial vehicles to no more than five con- secutive minutes.

Baxley explained that police ticketed him for blocking his own driveway while he unloaded his RV in front of his house. He noted that the current code does not allow RVs in residential neighborhoods and changes are required before RVs can comply with it.

As RVs are not delivery trucks, he suggested amending the ordinance relating to parking trucks and trailers on residential streets to incorporate allowances for RVs.

“I’d like to have a work session for consideration and possible direction by council for changes that may need to be made in that code. In specific, you can’t park in front of your own driveway, you can’t block your own driveway. That seems a little absurd,” Knight said.

He asked to put the issue on a work session agenda so the council can review the code and see if there is a need to change it.

“It seems that in our effort to regulate farmworker buses and other commercial vehicles, the recreational vehicles have become collateral damage.”

Knight noted that the popularity of outdoor activities in Yuma and its “great” climate translates

to a “very large” RV community in Yuma, and the city “should be doing everything we can to accommodate their needs.”

He added: “It just seems like we need to see what we can do to bring our code more in line with state statutes.”

Mayor Doug Nicholls said that staff has been working on that issue. City Administrator Greg Wilkinson confirmed it, noting that they should have something ready in about 30 days.

Knight then asked if the council could temporarily reduce the existing fees and fines until the city has time to review and implement changes to the code, at which time they could recommend a permanent fee structure.

“It seems like the information he brought forth to us shows our fees are way out of line with Phoenix. If we are going to look at the code then it’s kind of unfair to be charging such high fines when we’re looking at making changes,” he explained.

The mayor noted that action would require adoption of an ordinance, a two-meeting process.

Wilkinson said that Yuma’s fines are not out of line with others in the state. He pointed out that the city’s portion of a fine is “miniscule of what actually goes into the actual fine they have to pay.”

Nevertheless, he agreed to look at how local fines compare with other municipalities and report back to the council.

However, during the Nov. 15 meeting, Wilkinson told the council that staff had researched the ticket fines and found out that they are set by the courts, not the council. Nevertheless, the noted that some fines were lower and some higher than other cities but lower than Yuma County.

Shelton then shared his concern with the confusion caused by a recent project that closed Arizona Avenue at 20th Street to allow Gorman & Company, the contractor building the Mesa Heights apartment complex, to connect underground water and sewer lines. The two road closures seemed to take motorists and businesses by surprise.

Shelton said he wanted to talk about the “problems the contractor had in making the kind of communications it probably should have made, avoiding confusion.”

He acknowledged it was not a city project but pointed out that it still affected city streets and businesses as well as local drivers.

Nicholls replied that he was “not completely comfortable” with the idea of asking a contractor to appear before the council in a “judge-like” setting.

“I’m more open to the idea of talking about traffic control when it comes to projects and what the ordinance is and what the process is and if there is any change needed to make sure the public is safe and informed and that we can do those things that are prudent to protect the public,” he explained.

Shelton agreed but asked for more emphasis on notifying local businesses “to make sure they are kept in the loop.”

The mayor said he shared his concern and directed Wilkinson to “add that as soon as possible to a work session.”

Wilkinson said he would schedule a work session agenda item on traffic control to include the public notice process.