Saratoga News
News
Driveway is no place for boats, RVs--or is it?
By Jason Sweeney
Owning a house in Saratoga, for many city residents, is the pinnacle of the American Dream. Add a boat or a recreational vehicle, and it's icing on the cake.
But park that boat or recreational vehicle in front of your Saratoga dream home, and your neighbors might turn against you.
At its meeting July 28, the Saratoga Planning Commission tried to work out how to re-word an ordinance meant to discourage Saratogans from leaving their boats, RVs and other personal property in their driveways and in front of their homes for extended periods of time.
More than one speaker at the meeting said restrictions on parking boats and RVs in front of homes smacked of a communist-like violation of American property rights. The complications of getting the wording right and then of enforcing the ordinance, and the passions aroused by boat and RV owners, and by their neighbors who don't want boats and RVs stored on the streets, kept the discussion going until midnight.
The planning commission attempted to make a recommendation to the city council on an amendment to clarify the language in the existing law. But when members of the commission concluded it was too late to make a clear-headed decision, they decided more deliberation was needed at a later date. The commission agreed to continue the discussion at its July 12 meeting.
The current law prohibits storage of personal property in front yards for more than five days. The code allows residents to store personal property in their front yards and driveways for longer than five days if screened from view with fencing, or if a temporary-use permit is approved by the city. However, complaints have been filed with the city concerning people who park boats and RVs in their front yards for five days, then remove them for 72 hours, only to return them to their front yards for another five days.
Currently, the code is enforced when neighbors make complaints. Speakers on both sides of the issue complained of selective enforcement. However, assistant City Attorney Jonathan Wittwer said the city did not have the resources to patrol for ordinance violations and complaint-driven enforcement was common everywhere.
Saratoga resident Angie Frederick said she notified code enforcement about a boat parked on her street but nothing was done. "I think a rule should be enforced," she said.
Saratoga resident Viktor Polonsky said he never had problems parking his boat at his home when he lived in Santa Clara. He chose to buy his house in Saratoga in part because it had a driveway where he thought he could park his boat. He said he spent $7,000 on improvements to the driveway to park the boat there. Since moving to Saratoga, his neighbors have complained to the city about his boat. "If I had foreseen this problem ahead of time, I never would have bought this house," he said. Yet, Polonsky said in other neighborhoods in town he saw boats parked in driveways and heard no one complaining.
"I think it should be the right for every American to park their vehicles on their property," RV owner Paul Batista said. "Who wants to buy a house in Saratoga if you can't put a boat there? An RV there? Let's live, America. Let's live free."
"I think the way it's written now is much too restrictive," Commissioner Manny Cappello said.
Other commissioners agreed five days was not enough time to load and unload RVs or boats after a trip, but an ordinance was needed to maintain Saratoga's neat appearance.
The length of time someone could leave their personal property in their front yard or driveway will have to wait to be worked out at the next planning commission meeting.
Commissioner Robert Kundtz was absent.
