RV camping matter goes to P&Z
We talk about affordable housing -- this is the affordable housing of tourism. MIKE HALL CITY COUNCILMAN
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

City council members on Thursday, April 17, decided not to decide anything in the matter of how - if any way -- to restrict recreational vehicle camping on city beaches. Instead, it voted to table a move to take RV restrictions out of the current ordinance, and to send the matter to the planning and zoning commission for hearings and recommendations.

The council voted three years ago to restrict RV camping to between beach markers 27 and 34. That move came after beachfront property owners complained of the view. At the time, the developers of Newport Beach and Golf approved letting RVs camp on their property, since it wasn't then under development.

Now, it is. And partner Sunny Castor told the council last month that potential buyers are being put off by seeing RVs in front of what could be their beachfront lots. Castor pointed out that Newport Beach and Golf said moving RVs to that area was OK until development started.

He also pointed out that south of Beach Access Road 1A, property owners own the beach as far down as the mean high water line. While they can't legally restrict beach access because of the Texas Open Beaches Law, they can restrict camping, he said.

But faced on April 17 with the new ordinance, some of the council balked. It's clear after their discussion that they likely will not agree on a beach camping ordinance.

"I think it's pretty clear from the comments that the vast majority of the people I've talked to recently and years ago were adamantly opposed to RVs camping on the beach," Councilman Keith Donley said.

He said the mere fact that a previous council voted to restrict camping at all indicated a lot of opposition to allowing RVs to camp on the beach.

But Councilman Keith McMullin took the opposite view.

"I think it should be easy for RVs to drive, park or camp on any section of the beach," McMullin said. "I think there's room for everybody in Port Aransas, whether you're in the penthouse or on the beach."

"Everybody throws up the open beaches act, and this doesn't have anything to do with that," Donley pointed out. "But what if they wanted to park in front of your house?"

"There's a difference between parking on a road and parking on the beach," Mayor Claude Brown said.

"We've turned the beach into a roadway," Donley retorted. "What's the difference?"

"The ordinance shouldn't have been changed to begin with -- we shouldn't have shifted the burden to half the people," said Councilman Bubba Jensen. Now it comes back up again, and we keep sharpening the pencil (and doing more restrictions). I don't want to take any rights of people to come down and use that beach, and this takes away the rights of people to do that. We're going to end up just like Florida, where you can't even find access to the beach. I don't want us to take any more rights away. I don't want to see us restrict access to the beach. And if we take away camping, we've restricted rights to the beach."

"If we're going to take a right and privilege away from folks who are enjoying it, and obviously some are, I'd like to see us give them some kind of alternative,"Councilman Mike Hall said. "The county park is there but there are no plans to enlarge it, so I don't know about the impact. We talk about affordable housing -- this is the affordable housing of tourism. A lot of times the people who don't talk to you do so because they have no opinion or are happy with the way it is."

Councilman Charles Bujan, who owns an RV park, said he would not vote on the question. However, he said, "We also have an obligation to the taxpayer, that guy that owns property on the beach, and I'm hearing them say, 'No, we don't want them there at all.' Do we have an obligation to someone coming down on vacation, or to the property owner?"

Brown asked City Attorney Mike Morris to define camping.

Morris said if a citation is issued, it could be up to the judge to decide what was meant by camping.

But Projects and Planning Director David Parsons pointed out that the city ordinance contains a definition of camping: "Camping shall mean the use of tents or other shelters, automobile trailer cars, house trailers, house cars, campers or other such vehicles for the purpose of living or sleeping quarters."

"This debate goes further than we can go today without input from the citizens," said Councilman Rick Pratt, who urged residents to call the council with their opinions.

"I believe that beach belongs to everyone, but we have to manage it," Pratt said. "I have no objection to RVs on the beach. I do not like limiting access to the beach because those people are coming to our town, and they are spending some money here.

"It is perceived by some people who called me today at the last minute as an elitist thing," Pratt continued. "They say it's the beginning of an attempt to close the beach and make it private. That's what they thought. So I'm going to vote on first reading to move on, and let's hear from the citizens."

"Under planning and zoning rules, you'd have public hearings and everything," Hall pointed out.

"I like that," said Brown. "I'd like to hear more on it, and I'd like to hear more from RV park owners. Would I be in line to make a motion to table this?"

"We're set up for three readings," Jensen objected. "We can pass this tonight and still have two more readings. We're only putting it back to the way it was before we changed it. We need to move forward on it, and still send it to (planning and zoning)."

However, Brown received several offers to second his motion, and the question was tabled with Jensen being the only one to vote no.

The planning and zoning commission met Monday, April 21, but the April 17 action of the city council didn't allow enough time for the matter to be placed on that agenda. The next scheduled planning and zoning commission meeting is Tuesday, May 27, at 3 p.m. in the city council chamber, 710 W. Ave. A.