Bedford looks to rein in oversized RV parking

BEDFORD, N.Y. - Big RVs--rigs large enough to live and sleep in--could soon need a permit to park on any of Bedford's residential streets or in the town’s municipal lots.

Under a proposed amendment to the town code, recreational vehicles would be added to the commercial and industrial ones that already require town permitting.

The Town Board has set a public hearing on the amendment change for Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 6:15 p.m.

Supervisor Ellen Calves said "many people" had complained about large RVs parked outside their home. "It certainly makes people unhappy when they can't see out of their driveway if there's a large vehicle parked in front of their home," she said at the Town Board's Jan. 6 meeting.

Discussion of the proposed permitting took up about a third of the evening’s hour-long session, but details like the length of stays that would be allowed with the permit and its cost were still being worked out. One potential provision—forbidding the use of an RV as an overnight dwelling—prompted Councilwoman Stephanie McCaine to ask, “Is this something we want to have a conversation on?”

That and other bullet-point items are scheduled for discussion at Tuesday’s hearing.

Town Attorney Eric Gordon urged the board to spell out those specifics separately. "I think we need to set parameters on what this permit allows," he said. "What are the limits on it."

But the permit’s explicit bounds could be enumerated apart from the amendment, Gordon said, noting, “If the board wanted to change it at any time, it could do so by resolution.”

Calves said there have been "a lot of people demanding that we do something" about the RV parking situation.

"We shouldn't be creating laws just for one incident," she said. "A lot of residents are upset there's an RV parking on their street and so they have brought this up."

The proposed amendment "is not an unreasonable law to pass," she said, calling it "a common provision to occur in town laws throughout the county."

RV parks and other sites provide alternatives to on-street parking, the supervisor said.

Committee Posts

The Town Board made several committee appointments at the Jan. 6 meeting.

Nilus Klingel was appointed to a five-year term on the Planning Board, effective Jan. 20.

Gentian Falstrom, Alex Grodner and Lynn Becker were named to the Conservation Board for two-year terms starting Jan. 20. Mary Hernstadt will serve as an alternate member.

Ronald Younkins will begin serving as an alternate member of the Wetlands Control Commission on Jan. 20.