Has anyone run into issues with zoning and fulltiming? We're currently parked on private property in Los Angeles County CA. We've been here on and off for 3 years with the permission of the land owner. It's an out of the way spot and zoned agricultural. Lots are 5-40 acres here. We're neat and quiet.

Recently the zoning folks came out and said living in an RV is illegal unless you are in an RV park. We've checked the laws as best we can ourselves, and it seems they are right!

We don't want to leave and our host doesn't want us to leave either! Neither do any of the neighbors. It's an ideal situation. But the owner faces a $1000/day fine, so we don't have much choice.

In LA County, apparently you can't even stay in a commercial RV park long term - more than 3 months out of every 6. We love fultiming, but we prefer to stay put for a while rather than move every week.

Does anyone have any ideas?

I don't think I have any good news for you... questions about RV zoning restrictions get sent to me from time to time.

Unfortunately, if the law is on the books, you may not be able to do much to get around it. You need to read the law carefully, and see if there are any "loopholes" in it that you can use to your advantage. Sometimes, there will be a way to work around the restrictions hidden in there...

One possibility is to appeal to the county for a variance, but you need to come up with a pretty good reason why you should be allowed to have one. It would be temporary in nature, but it's probably worth a try.

It's likely that the zoning folks are responding to a complaint from someone... usually, if no one complains, they never get after you.. however, having lived in CA for a lot of years, I know that anything is possible.

I think your only other option would be to attempt to change the law... Not a job for the faint at heart!

I hope someone has a better idea for you!

Although Los Angeles county certainly takes the lead in having a regulation for every possible restriction, its not unusual to limit RV use as living quarters on private land. I buy & sell undeveloped land all over the west, and almost everyone of the 18 counties I've dealt with has a zoning regulation or ordinance to limit how long you can live in an RV on private land. Some allow only 30 days/yr, without onsite utilities. Many counties extend that allowed RV living time frame up to 180 days, after you drill a well and install a septic system. You didn't say if this land had any utilities/facilities. In some situations a cheap used mobile home on the site is an easy way to avoid the appearance of the RV being the only living quarters. Zoning regulations treat mobile homes much more favorably than RV's.

As Mark said, enforcement is usually limited and based on complaint response.

At this point, with an official warning already issued, you can be sure they will follow up and enforce further violations with fines. You can try an appeal to the county planning board for a variation, but other than getting a short delay to allow you time to move before enforcing the fines, I wouldnt expect any sympathy or long term change in LA.

Like you, I enjoy staying put for a few months at a time on remote land where my neighbors are 1/2 mile away instead of 5 ft away. Other than finding isolated land where no one cares, or keeping your stays shorter to avoid the complaints & officials;, I went ahead and paid to install water wells and septic systems on a few of my favorite parcels, which makes me legal in those counties for up to 6 months/yr on each site.

good luck,

Jim

....so do as I did and convert the property to section 8 and let the poop storm begin!.....May they appreciate what they have to live next to!......geofkaye

Zoning restrictions can be a real pain in the ***! The small community where our pad is located has recently passed a law that doesn't allow living in an RV. We have a septic tank, water & electricity and are usually here a couple of months in the spring and about 3 months in the fall. Apparently we were "grandfathered" in because no one has said anything to us and we know the man who told someone else that they couldn't move into a camper down the road because of the ruling. I'm sure if we were "illegal" he (or someone else) would have told us by now.

However, we heard that the reason behind the new rule is that someone wanted to put in a bunch of campers on their land to rent to a group of people who might possibly be illegal immigrant workers at a nearby stone quarry. The town simply wanted to cut that off at the pass. So I guess it's understandable WHY there have to be restrictions...it can just be aggravating when you're in a situation such as ours could have been if we weren't already here when the rule was passed.

Perhaps the OP could apply for some kind of "grandfather" variance?

Brenda

Interestingly CA has a state law that allows agricultural employees to live in RVs on private land zoned agricultural. The employment does NOT have to be on the same land, or even near that in which they live. The state law says local zoning can't undo this. There is a simple state permit process to check the habitability of the RV. The problem is that you have to have 5-12 such employees in one spot. Less than 5, no go.

The LA zoning doesn't explicitly prohibit living in an RV. It has a catchall paragraph that prohibits everything not explicitly allowed. You can't even live in an RV during construction, must be a mobile home (>225sf). All secondary units (guest houses, etc) that are acceptable via variance must be >225sf excluding built-ins. So maybe an upgrade is in order.

We had water/electric/sewer. Apparently that was part of the problem. Had we not been "hooked up" they might have believed we were not actually "living" there.

Indeed this started with a complaint... from a vindictive ex-wife of neighbor. The ex-wife doesn't live any where near there and never did. Rumor has it she's out to get anyone nice to her ex, including our hosts and our neighbor: a senior who has lived in his mobile home on his own property for 30 years, who was told he had to go.

Sheesh! It never ceases to amaze me how ONE person can cause a stink with city hall (or the zoning commissioner, or the school board, etc.) and manage to cause other people problems! It's almost like the first to make a complaint, to the "powers that be", however little the matter even impacts them, has the most power over any situation. And once someone has started something in motion, there seems to be very little the others can do.

Brenda

Don't feel bad out there in CA, MI also has such zoning regulations. Our son has 12 acres in Onsted, MI in the country. We are planning on parking next to the horse barn and trench water and 50a service to a cement pad we'll in the summer so we can stay there a few summer weeks. In checking the local ordinance RVs are limited to 2 weeks a year. We'll see what happens this summer, but experience from having been a township trustee I don't expect any problems unless someone complaines.