PRIEST RIVER — Complaints from residents prompted city officials to take a look at Priest River’s occupied recreational vehicle ordinance earlier this year.

During the city’s Nov. 5 meeting, a draft ordinance was presented to City Council that would put two main restrictions on occupied recreational vehicles.

The first restriction would make it unlawful for any landowner to have an occupied RV on their property for more than three consecutive days. Under the second restriction, occupied RV’s are not allowed on city right of way for any length of time. An occupied RV is defined under the proposed ordinance as a recreational vehicle being utilized in any manner other than storage.

“After many discussions, I think this gets down to where they are not becoming a permanent residence,” said Mayor Jim Martin.

There are some exceptions listed in the draft ordinance as well. The first is a seasonal exception, which stemmed from an Oct. 1 discussion by council members, who were concerned that families who stay in RVs on their river lots every summer would no longer be able to do so. The exception allows landowners of a parcel that does not have a dwelling to have an occupied RV on the property from May 15 through Sept. 15. The RV, however, must be connected to city water and be currently registered. The latter conditions apply to the second exception as well.

A temporary occupancy exception would allow landowners to have an occupied RV on their property for one year after the first issuance of a building permit for a single-family residence.

“We tried to write an ordinance that encompasses all of the different things we were looking at, whether they were somebody who made a permanent residence somewhere, or somebody who was there simply for a month during the summertime ... this really simplifies it,” Martin said.

Per the draft ordinance, any landowner who allows an occupied RV on their property for more than three days, or anyone who has an occupied RV on city right of way, would be guilty of a misdemeanor.

While a public hearing is not required to pass the ordinance, Martin said city officials encourage anyone who has comments on the draft ordinance to do so.

“It is simply a draft at this point and we can make modifications if we need to,” Martin said.

The draft will up for discussion during the Nov. 19 meeting as well, he said.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.