Township to Propose Regulations Regarding RV, Boat Storage

Township officials have discussed instituting a law that would regulate objects such as boats and RVs on private lots within the municipality.

The officials began discussing such an ordinance after several residents complained about RVs filled with junk coming right up to their property lines. One of those residents, Bob Froehlich, was at a township committee meeting Thursday, when the matter was discussed.

Froehlich, who lives at 38 Woodlawn Drive, said his neighbor at 36 Woodlawn Drive has an RV parked right up to the property line. And he said there's not much he's been able to do to prevent that.

"It's right on my property line," he said. "What do I do?"

Township committee members and attorney Carl Woodward discussed how to prevent such occurrences from happening. There are a variety of ways to do so.

The township could create an ordinance that would establish a setback requirement for such structures. Essentially, that would mean items such as boats or RVs would need to be placed a certain distance away from property lines.

It could also create requirements that would make it necessary for such objects to be screened from view by barriers or by natural vegetation.

Woodward also said the township could prohibit such items from being stored on properties in the R-4 zone, which has the smallest lots.

"It's not an easy topic," Woodward said.

Committee member Bailey Brower also proposed potentially allowing people to store such items on public land, such as the township mulch area. Woodward said that could potentially be met with liability-related issues, but Deputy Mayor Kevin Tubbs said such a concern could likely be worked out.

The township only discussed the matter Thursday; it did not come to any final conclusions.

It also discussed portable storage units (such as those sold under the brand PODS), which many people use when they are renovating their homes. Some have complained the units are unsightly and left on properties for too long. Township officials proposed establishing regulations that would restrict their use.

Nothing was made final, but township officials proposed allowing people to have the units on their properties for three months, and then allowing them to request extensions of up to another three months. After the maximum of six months, a property owner would need to remove any such unit.