No more free parking in Anchorage (?)

icanon wrote:
The town has an opertunity here, they are in need of money and control of overnight parking, like some small towns I know provide a municipality CG with basic hospitality and services, no frills. That way the town controls parking, makes some money and everyone's happy.

Why should any town go into the campground business? Should they also go into the hotel business? If people had to spend less on lodging maybe they would spend more in restaurants. Then the city could go into food service, saving visitors even more, then maybe they would buy cars or houses. Where should it end?

The town has an opertunity here, they are in need of money and control of overnight parking, like some small towns I know provide a municipality CG with basic hospitality and services, no frills. That way the town controls parking, makes some money and everyone's happy.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
The fact that this proposed ordinance is seeing the light of day at all is proof that there could be merit to the ordinance.

At this point, getting the attention of a single Assembly member doesn't mean a lot. Here in Whitehorse, having 60+ rigs in the Walmart lot every night might be cause for a new rule, but the owner of the Caribou RV Park wasn't able to get a single politician's attention last year (and I have no doubt that her rant in the newspaper tanked the sale deal that was in the works when she did it).

rv2go wrote:
I wont be going up this year, but for those going and if this gets passed, you should avoid Lottie Michaels and his Golden Nugget RV Park. We as an RV community should really shun any place that supports banning overnight parking in a store's parking lot.

I doubt that boycotting an establishment you have no interest in patronizing in the first place will have much of an impact. Unless you know the situation in Anchorage, you shouldn't be passing judgment on the merit of any proposed ordinance. If an occasional rig overnights in the Walmart parking lot, I agree, the law is ill-conceived. If there are dozens of rigs staying multiple nights in Walmarts that are located in residential areas than an ordinance may be necessary.
Overnighting in areas not designated for such activity is very much a NIMBY issue. It is all fine and Dandy until they are overnighting in your residential neighborhood. No different than having no problem with a person running a business out of their home, until that business and home is your next door neighbor. Then the traffic and strangers coming in and out of that business becomes an issue that you very well might need a city ordinance to stop.
As always, I will invoke my favorite argument. If overnighting was actually beneficial and wanted by the Walmarts of the world, they will surely have the political and financial resources to outmaneuver and outspend any mom and pop campground. The fact that this proposed ordinance is seeing the light of day at all is proof that there could be merit to the ordinance.

Thanks for the information. Sounds to me like this person is in it for themselves, so hope it doesn't pass. I do have to say that we were rather surprised at the amount of RV's in the Walmart parking lot when there this past summer. We stayed at the base campground. I'm sure there are those that take advantage of a business allowing them to park but I'm sure if the majority are like we were we did spend money inside their place as well as downtown.

We would not stay in Anchorage since the campgrounds were so poor. We stayed in Palmer and just drove into Anchorage. It was only about a 45 minute drive and the campgrounds were much better.

I wont be going up this year, but for those going and if this gets passed, you should avoid Lottie Michaels and his Golden Nugget RV Park. We as an RV community should really shun any place that supports banning overnight parking in a store's parking lot.

You might to check the Anchorage campground reviews, wildtoad - if you offer a very poor experience for a high dollar, Costco looks pretty good. The one owned by the person promoting this bill is apparently particularly bad.

I've never been there but if the parking lots look like RV/Trailer parks then I'd suggest the town has a point. Perhaps someone should suggest local RV campgrounds could provide additional no frills parking, no water, no electricity, no dumping, no generator usage after quiet hours for a very small fee.

I find it amusing that people will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a motorhome, toad and all that goes along with it and then park in a Walmart for other than to catch a few quick winks.

I find it not so humorous that we will complain about the lack of modern features at some campgrounds, encourage them to invest in better Wi-Fi and internet services than do everything we can to not stay there.

Can't blame the campgrounds for wanting this to pass.