Jackson county code enforcement creates homeless
#1
I didn't know until recently that you were not allowed to live in a travel trailer on your own property.
I've know that you couldn't have more than one resident on a property and that you can't have a friend or family member living in a travel trailer on your property.

The only exception I know of is if you apply for a hardship permit to be a caretaker for someone.
Anyway I know of a person who has been living on a property that has no dwelling other than the travel trailer he has been lining in for several years.

The property has city sewer a well and electricity. But the county found out he lives there so he has to leave. He has no money or even a car to live in.

I don't understand why it's OK to tent a space for a travel trailer or a motor home but you can't have a person living in one on a property?
Reply
#2
Zoning regulations and money.
Reply
#3
(01-13-2014, 11:22 AM)tvguy Wrote: I didn't know until recently that you were not allowed to live in a travel trailer on your own property.
I've know that you couldn't have more than one resident on a property and that you can't have a friend or family member living in a travel trailer on your property.

The only exception I know of is if you apply for a hardship permit to be a caretaker for someone.
Anyway I know of a person who has been living on a property that has no dwelling other than the travel trailer he has been lining in for several years.

The property has city sewer a well and electricity. But the county found out he lives there so he has to leave. He has no money or even a car to live in.

I don't understand why it's OK to tent a space for a travel trailer or a motor home but you can't have a person living in one on a property?

What is his property zoned? Can he make it an RV park with just himself as tenant?
Reply
#4
(01-13-2014, 11:26 AM)Valuesize Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:22 AM)tvguy Wrote: I didn't know until recently that you were not allowed to live in a travel trailer on your own property.
I've know that you couldn't have more than one resident on a property and that you can't have a friend or family member living in a travel trailer on your property.

The only exception I know of is if you apply for a hardship permit to be a caretaker for someone.
Anyway I know of a person who has been living on a property that has no dwelling other than the travel trailer he has been lining in for several years.

The property has city sewer a well and electricity. But the county found out he lives there so he has to leave. He has no money or even a car to live in.

I don't understand why it's OK to tent a space for a travel trailer or a motor home but you can't have a person living in one on a property?

What is his property zoned? Can he make it an RV park with just himself as tenant?

No it's zoned residential.
Reply
#5
Can he pull the wheels off, add some cheap skirting (to the travel trailer, not himself) and call it a mobile home?
Reply
#6
(01-13-2014, 11:26 AM)PonderThis Wrote: Zoning regulations and money.

As far as "zoning" It's R-1.. he is the only resident on the tax lot so I don't see how he has been violating a zoning law.

I guess someone could say the laws are set up so some guy with a nice house wouldn't have a neighbor living in an old ugly travel trailer.
If that was the reason why do they let people live in old mobile homes with out even skirting around them?
Reply
#7
(01-13-2014, 11:28 AM)GPnative Wrote: Can he pull the wheels off, add some cheap skirting (to the travel trailer, not himself) and call it a mobile home?

That's an idea, Not sure. I just found out that you can no longer talk to a human being if you call Jackson county planningSad
Reply
#8
(01-13-2014, 11:28 AM)GPnative Wrote: Can he pull the wheels off, add some cheap skirting (to the travel trailer, not himself) and call it a mobile home?
No, there's regulations stating the minimum size for a dwelling too - I think it varies by jurisdiction, but something like 450 square feet sticks in my mind.

Just as another example of why RV's don't qualify is, they're not built to house codes in any way, and I recently was studying egress windows (windows for you to escape from in a fire, but almost more importantly, windows big enough a firefighter with air tank can fit through, and every sleeping area is required to have one). They're required to have at least a 5.7 square feet openable area, with minimum heights and widths too. How many RV's qualify on that alone?
Reply
#9
(01-13-2014, 11:34 AM)PonderThis Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:28 AM)GPnative Wrote: Can he pull the wheels off, add some cheap skirting (to the travel trailer, not himself) and call it a mobile home?
No, there's regulations stating the minimum size for a dwelling too - I think it varies by jurisdiction, but something like 450 square feet sticks in my mind.

Just as another example of why RV's don't qualify is, they're not built to house codes in any way, and I recently was studying egress windows (windows for you to escape from in a fire, but almost more importantly, windows big enough a firefighter with air tank can fit through, and every sleeping area is required to have one). They're required to have at least a 5.7 square feet openable area, with minimum heights and widths too. How many RV's qualify on that alone?

Yeah I read somewhere that the smallest legal home you can build is a 600 sq ft cabin.

But as far as Proper size windows being an issue in an RV. Why is it not an issue at RV parks?
Reply
#10
(01-13-2014, 11:31 AM)tvguy Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:26 AM)PonderThis Wrote: Zoning regulations and money.

As far as "zoning" It's R-1.. he is the only resident on the tax lot so I don't see how he has been violating a zoning law.

I guess someone could say the laws are set up so some guy with a nice house wouldn't have a neighbor living in an old ugly travel trailer.
If that was the reason why do they let people live in old mobile homes with out even skirting around them?

I could argue this issue either way. Living in my own travel trailer is inexpensive living for whatever purpose I might like (not really true, I gave up my travel trailer because nothing in it is made to house standards and they're poorly insulated too), and my right as a citizen to do as I please on my own property. You living in your travel trailer, however, is a blight on my neighborhood property values, a waste of society's resources (you'll pay as much to heat it as many "real" houses), and unsafe to boot. Smiling
Reply
#11
Did they give him a deadline to vacate?
He could always pull a Harry Truman (of St. Helens fame) and stay put until they force him to vacate
Reply
#12
If he owns the property free and clear they can make a big stink about it and threaten and posture too, but it rarely comes down to them putting any real teeth behind it. You can't bank on this, but it's how it seems to go in these more rural areas. (They can put a lien on your property for when you sell, but if you're going to live there until you die, so what?)

I would say be nice to the neighbors, and never answer the door when the guy from the county comes by. Smiling
Reply
#13
(01-13-2014, 11:44 AM)tvguy Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:34 AM)PonderThis Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:28 AM)GPnative Wrote: Can he pull the wheels off, add some cheap skirting (to the travel trailer, not himself) and call it a mobile home?
No, there's regulations stating the minimum size for a dwelling too - I think it varies by jurisdiction, but something like 450 square feet sticks in my mind.

Just as another example of why RV's don't qualify is, they're not built to house codes in any way, and I recently was studying egress windows (windows for you to escape from in a fire, but almost more importantly, windows big enough a firefighter with air tank can fit through, and every sleeping area is required to have one). They're required to have at least a 5.7 square feet openable area, with minimum heights and widths too. How many RV's qualify on that alone?

Yeah I read somewhere that the smallest legal home you can build is a 600 sq ft cabin.

But as far as Proper size windows being an issue in an RV. Why is it not an issue at RV parks?

That's the zoning issue. Only certain areas are zoned to allow RV parks, and in at least some of those you're not allowed to stay more than a certain amount of time - in other words, it's considered temporary living. I guess they're willing to let you risk your own life for a temporary amount of time, but not forever.
Reply
#14
How did they find out about him living there? Some one must have reported it???

I live in a fairly nice area in the middle of our town (not uppity... but nice and clean) and there are 2 homes on our block that have RV's (one is a 5th wheel, the other a motor home) set up in their driveways (that are barely long enough to park the RV's without touching the sidewalk) with people living in them. I believe it's either adult children or friends of the home owners. I know people are living in them, I walk past daily to get to the mailbox. But no one seems to care. They aren't noisy and they don't make a mess. I've also noticed that they disappear for a few hours every now and then... I assume it's to dump. They've been here longer than we have. I guess no one has reported it, because no one cares.
Reply
#15
(01-13-2014, 11:45 AM)PonderThis Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:31 AM)tvguy Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:26 AM)PonderThis Wrote: Zoning regulations and money.

As far as "zoning" It's R-1.. he is the only resident on the tax lot so I don't see how he has been violating a zoning law.

I guess someone could say the laws are set up so some guy with a nice house wouldn't have a neighbor living in an old ugly travel trailer.
If that was the reason why do they let people live in old mobile homes with out even skirting around them?

I could argue this issue either way. Living in my own travel trailer is inexpensive living for whatever purpose I might like (not really true, I gave up my travel trailer because nothing in it is made to house standards and they're poorly insulated too), and my right as a citizen to do as I please on my own property. You living in your travel trailer, however, is a blight on my neighborhood property values, a waste of society's resources (you'll pay as much to heat it as many "real" houses), and unsafe to boot. Smiling


Yes I can see arguing it two different ways.

You are simply wrong about the cost of living in an RV. This guy I'm talking about never has an electricity bill over 60 bucks. I have another friend who rents a place on the Rogue and lives in a motor home and his bill is never more than 50 or 60 bucks.

I agree with you and I understand blight and property value issue. But a travel trailer doesn't have to be ugly or it could be surrounded by vegetation.

As far as being unsafe? Again why are people allowed to be"unsafe in parks?

And this is a ONE room travel trailer so the door should be suitable for the 5.7 square feet openable area.
Reply
#16
(01-13-2014, 11:46 AM)GPnative Wrote: Did they give him a deadline to vacate?
He could always pull a Harry Truman (of St. Helens fame) and stay put until they force him to vacate

He has to leave by Feb 1st

That won't work because he doesn't own the property and the owner will be fined if he stays there.
Reply
#17
(01-13-2014, 12:01 PM)tvguy Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:46 AM)GPnative Wrote: Did they give him a deadline to vacate?
He could always pull a Harry Truman (of St. Helens fame) and stay put until they force him to vacate

He has to leave by Feb 1st

That won't work because he doesn't own the property and the owner will be fined if he stays there.

Ahh, I see....bummer
Reply
#18
(01-13-2014, 11:52 AM)PonderThis Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:44 AM)tvguy Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:34 AM)PonderThis Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:28 AM)GPnative Wrote: Can he pull the wheels off, add some cheap skirting (to the travel trailer, not himself) and call it a mobile home?
No, there's regulations stating the minimum size for a dwelling too - I think it varies by jurisdiction, but something like 450 square feet sticks in my mind.

Just as another example of why RV's don't qualify is, they're not built to house codes in any way, and I recently was studying egress windows (windows for you to escape from in a fire, but almost more importantly, windows big enough a firefighter with air tank can fit through, and every sleeping area is required to have one). They're required to have at least a 5.7 square feet openable area, with minimum heights and widths too. How many RV's qualify on that alone?

Yeah I read somewhere that the smallest legal home you can build is a 600 sq ft cabin.

But as far as Proper size windows being an issue in an RV. Why is it not an issue at RV parks?

That's the zoning issue. Only certain areas are zoned to allow RV parks, and in at least some of those you're not allowed to stay more than a certain amount of time - in other words, it's considered temporary living. I guess they're willing to let you risk your own life for a temporary amount of time, but not forever.

There are parks I've been in where people have lived in the same RV for many years.
Reply
#19
(01-13-2014, 11:59 AM)tvguy Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:45 AM)PonderThis Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:31 AM)tvguy Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:26 AM)PonderThis Wrote: Zoning regulations and money.

As far as "zoning" It's R-1.. he is the only resident on the tax lot so I don't see how he has been violating a zoning law.

I guess someone could say the laws are set up so some guy with a nice house wouldn't have a neighbor living in an old ugly travel trailer.
If that was the reason why do they let people live in old mobile homes with out even skirting around them?

I could argue this issue either way. Living in my own travel trailer is inexpensive living for whatever purpose I might like (not really true, I gave up my travel trailer because nothing in it is made to house standards and they're poorly insulated too), and my right as a citizen to do as I please on my own property. You living in your travel trailer, however, is a blight on my neighborhood property values, a waste of society's resources (you'll pay as much to heat it as many "real" houses), and unsafe to boot. Smiling


Yes I can see arguing it two different ways.

You are simply wrong about the cost of living in an RV. This guy I'm talking about never has an electricity bill over 60 bucks. I have another friend who rents a place on the Rogue and lives in a motor home and his bill is never more than 50 or 60 bucks.

I agree with you and I understand blight and property value issue. But a travel trailer doesn't have to be ugly or it could be surrounded by vegetation.

As far as being unsafe? Again why are people allowed to be"unsafe in parks?

And this is a ONE room travel trailer so the door should be suitable for the 5.7 square feet openable area.

I don't think a door qualifies as an egress window, maybe because it's lockable and maybe because they want something they can break out - only guessing. Oh, and maybe because they think the fire might be between the bedroom and the door, too - afterall, houses have doors too and yet they still require egress windows. OK, I don't know the reasons, I only know that's the law.

So far as the parks thing, that's the money and zoning part. My commercial zoned piece of property is zoned for use as an RV park among other uses. Zoning is a real estate scam of sorts because it makes some pieces of property worth more than others because of what you're allowed to do with it. I'm not saying that's right, I'm only saying that is.
Reply
#20
(01-13-2014, 12:01 PM)tvguy Wrote:
(01-13-2014, 11:46 AM)GPnative Wrote: Did they give him a deadline to vacate?
He could always pull a Harry Truman (of St. Helens fame) and stay put until they force him to vacate

He has to leave by Feb 1st

That won't work because he doesn't own the property and the owner will be fined if he stays there.

Well, they put wheels underneath those things for a reason. Smiling He's not homeless, he only needs to find a place to park.

You can live free on BLM and Forest Service lands as long as you move within 2 weeks of them catching you (however long you've been there, you just got there is the right answer).
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)