THE DEBATE GOES ON: George Wells fights for fewer RV parking restrictions at City Hall on Wednesday. Recreational vehicle owners have for months clamored for relaxed restrictions on where they can park their RVs, boats and trailers, and many remain unhappy with a revised law unveiled this week.

MANTECA —Restrictions on recreational vehicle parking could soon ease up, after a proposed law got a two-hour public airing at City Hall Wednesday, April 23.

Recreational vehicle owners crowded council chambers for the second time in three months to discuss the draft law, written by councilmen Steve DeBrum and John Harris with help from city planning and public safety directors.

For nearly a year, these owners have been campaigning for a change to the existing city law — which simply prohibits homeowners from keeping more than one boat, RV or trailer in their yards, unless they are in a shed or garage.

The new proposal keeps the limit at one motor home per residence, but allows homeowners to keep an unlimited number of boats, trailers and other recreational vehicles that measure under 20 feet long.

These vehicles must be kept on a paved surface that covers less than a quarter of the yard and is at least three feet from the house or property edge.

Almost everyone who spoke at the meeting had some problem with the six-page draft law, but much of the motor home owners’ disapproval focused on just a few items.

At the top of that list was a section that prohibited residents from storing “oversized vehicles” — more than twenty feet long or seven feet in height and width — on the yards alongside their homes.

Several people complained that when they bought their home, the side yard was advertised as a place to park an RV, and it was unfair for the city to change that now.

“They sold it to you on that and now you want to come and say that’s illegal,” Jerry Wallace told the councilmen.

Similarly, other folks complained that keeping a three-foot buffer between the RV and their home and fence would make it impossible to park in their side yard.

Interim Fire Chief Chris Haas explained that firefighters need at least three feet to move around a structure and prevent fires from spreading.

But many in the audience scoffed at the idea that a firefighter would wriggle between a fence and a burning RV, or declared that they should be allowed to risk their home burning down, simply because it was their property.

The fact that the law does not limit parking for homes built before 1978 also riled many in attendance, who thought the law should apply to everyone.

At 9:15 p.m., DeBrum concluded the hearing, suggesting that the city hold another public workshop before moving forward with lawmaking procedure.

The two hours of complaints and questions “show(ed) that we need to go back and re-look at these things,” DeBrum said.

Once the two councilmen agree on the proposed language, the law must go before the planning commission and the full City Council before becoming law.