Anyone have problems parking their class B in their Driveway

[trukeeper]

Has anyone encountered problems with city ordinances when parking their Sprinter-based RV's in their driveways for extended periods of time? I know some Homes Associations will prohibit RV's from long term driveway parking, but never heard of any city ordinances that would prohibit it. My understanding is that Sprinter-based RV's are generally considered "passenger vans" and are treated as "standard Passenger vehicles" and treated no differently than any other car, SUV, or other van. Has anyone else had any experience dealing with their local jurisdictions regarding issues with parking of a Sprinter (or any other Class B) in their driveways?

[NoVa_RT]

I'm going to have to disagree with Supercharged's suggestion that Class B RVs tend to be "brightly colored" and/ or "won't hardly fit" in a driveway. Mostly not the case, IMHO, and a Class B shouldn't be any more aesthetically displeasing to the neighbors than the average automobile, and much better than the clunkers that may be present. Now the rig pictured in the photo on SC's profile might be another story, but that's nothing like the vast majority of Class Bs.

[drsolo]

HOA and "condo boards" have a way of changing their minds and rules depending on who has an axe to grind, who is a control freak. It is best to get a ruling in writing before buying. I think Sprinter vans are nice, clean looking. Is there any chance that you can get a handicapped tag? Vans are quite often exempted for handicapped use.

[Supercharged]

steveh27 wrote:
In addition to my earlier post detailing my city fight, my city said if the rv was the only vehicle for a driver it could stay. If you have 2 drivers, 1 car & rv you'ld be OK here.

You could go for a variance, showing your neighbors support.

Your neighors work hard and long to buy in a nice area, landscape, plant trees, mow the grass, paint there house the color that looks nice in the area. Then along come someone with a bright colored RV that won't hardly fit on the drive way, none of the colors on it look well with anything up and down the street. They use it a few times a year, and want everyone else to look at it the rest of the year. Move the thing out of site. Hello

[steveh27]

In addition to my earlier post detailing my city fight, my city said if the rv was the only vehicle for a driver it could stay. If you have 2 drivers, 1 car & rv you'ld be OK here.

You could go for a variance, showing your neighbors support.

[trukeeper]

Interesting replies so far. Some more detail... I contacted my HOA before I even purchased my Sprinter Van and got their approval to park it in my driveway. My immediate neighbors have all been complimentary regarding how pretty the Van looks in the driveway (I keep it very clean). Unfortunately, it appears not ALL the neighbors like it, since someone complained to the city. (The city inspector could only tell me it was an "anonymous caller"). I have a real good idea who it was, but that is a completely different matter. Some of the comments above are critical of me wanting to park this in my driveway. The reason we purchased a Sprinter based "touring coach" was to serve as both one of our "daily driver" cars as well as a nice vehicle to travel in. To store this thing off-site for some reason totally negates our intended usage. If I just wanted an RV, I could have purchased a good sized class A for considerably less money than I spent on this thing. In the end, this whole matter seems to hinge on what my vehicle is; if it is considered a Van, then it is ok to park in my driveway, if it is considered an RV, then I cannot. I have read my State Statutes and it defines an RV as a "unit built on a chassis intended primarily to serve as living quarters...." I have tried to explain to the city inspector that my Sprinter is a factory-built VAN... NOT an RV shell built upon a truck chassis. I have had no luck so far, in the end, I think the inspector has simply decided that anything as big as my van MUST be an RV regardless of the technicalities of it... i.e. my vehicle is simply failing his "sniff test". Still holding out some hope, but it's not looking good right now. The inspector said I could park on the side of my home, but there does not appear to be enough room for that... I can't extend/expand my garage because it would violate local building codes to do so... I am starting run out of options. I guess one option is just accept a violation every so often and consider the fine as storage expense? Has anyone hired a lawyer to successfully win a situation like this?

[1775]

This very much depends on local ordinances or coop/condo/community rules. At a private house it is going to depend on what the local regs are. For example, where I am I can park my RV on my driveway - and do - as long as the entire RV is behind the line of the front of the house. It cannot be into my driveway closer to the street than that. This was one reason why we chose a Class B. It just fits in that space.

Also - most Class Bs just look like vans and without close inspection no one is going to know that it is anything else. You are, of course, taking a chance on this because if someone does get close and makes a complaint you have a problem finding a new parking place.

Check your town, county, and state government to see if there is anything prohibiting you from doing this.

[tatest]

Our city allows parking of RVs, trailers, boats, trucks but has specfic length and height limits. A high-top 25-foot Sprinter may exceed them, while a 17-21 foot B might be OK.

People who drive their larger work trucks home, like the cable installer or the Schwann guy, will usually pull past the front of the house.

When you get past the city ordinances to HOA rules, what it permitted to be visible to passers-by can be much more limited.

Nothing can be stored on the street here for more than 48 hours, an ordinance routinely ignored for cost of enforcement.

[truepath]

My brother in law has a class A parked in the neighbor's driveway on one side of his house and a class C in the neighbor's driveway on the other side of his house. The RV's have been there for years. This is the kind of behavior that causes cities to adopt limiting ordinances which is unfortunate, but obviously needed given rude and thoughtless behavior.

[NoVa_RT]

One of the reasons to choose a Class B is the convenience that comes from it fitting in most driveways without blocking other vehicles. Legal most places, but check your local jurisdiction.

[Supercharged]

I don't see this as a town or city thing, I see it as not putting things in front of my house that would look bad to my neighbor, I have to much repect for them to park a John Deer and planter in my front drive way unless I live in the country and was a farmer. If it was a boat it is just a bad. It also tells me they can't aford a place to keep it at or aford it at all.

[Greydennyhawk]

People in west seneca New York are nice and don't complain
If they want to see the greyhawk inside, I always open a bottle of wine!

[PCarnathan]

I think it'll be hard to get a definitive answer since rules and regulations differ greatly across the nation, and Homeowners' Associations get to make up and arbitrarily enforce rules as they see fit.

Our CC&Rs state the RV must be on your property, behind a gate and "obscured" from view at street level. I grew a 14' tall hedge around my property and my Roadtrek is obscured, behind a gate and on my property.

Pat in Menifee, CA
www.patcarnathan.com

[stan909]

Here in San Bernardino Cali. They passed a law in 97 that rv's must be beside or behind the house. Mine is on my driveway 30' off the street. Inspector came by and told me I'd have to move it. I went down to code department and was told that since there has been an rv on that spot since 1968 ,it may be grandfathered in. City went bankrupt and since there is no money there are not enough meddling bureaucrats to shove their noses where they don't belong. The less money government has the more liberty we have.

[drsolo]

In Milwaukee if it is parked off the street it is OK. I see MH parked off alleys for example. Cant park anything longer than 20' (IIRC) and cant remember how tall, but it must be registered as passenger vehicle. I do not see any RVs on the street at all, so they must be banned.

[steveh27]

I did in Grosse Pointe Woods, MI. The city used to allow parking in 'permitted' places only hidden from view from the street; ie. behind a house. Then a new ordinance removed that option & all had to be removed. I had permission to park my B in my drive as they considered it a conversion van. When they passed the new ordinance I was given notice to remove my offensive vehicle in 10 days. I fought this for several years, going to every council meeting. getting new members elected, filing suit in court, & finally getting a variance to keep my B. It cost me about $1,000 and the city over $10,000, and 2 years of stress.

I really wanted to pursue the court case as I felt I could win & mI become like OH where the state supreme court ruled in favor of rv owners. But, I could not get anyone else to join me & did not want to pay the entire legal cost on my own.