NewsWest 9
MIDLAND - Now that homes and apartments are scarce, many are turning to the next best thing: living in RV's and travel trailers.
They're popping up more and more across the Tall City but where they're parking is the problem and it could cost them.
"In the backyard, hooked up. In the front yard, hooked up. On the street, hooked up," Midland Building Official, Steve Thorpe, said. "In the last month, we've probably had between a dozen and 15 complaints."
But what's too long to leave a trailer parked on the street? 24 hours? 48 hours?
Actually, according to the ordinance, just four hours left in the road in one day is enough for a citation.
The exception can be visiting out-of-state family members but even their trailer only gets two days a month.
For now, code enforcers are just giving out warnings.
"We'll talk to people. We'll leave hangers. We have a sticker that we'll put on," Thorpe said.
But if the trailer is left out, the owner could face a fine up to $500.
NewsWest 9 looked for trailers to talk to the owners.
We found a Midland man who said his trailer was stickered in the past but it's just for vacations. He wants the city to do more homework before putting on the sticker.
"Housing shortage we're in right now, I can kind of understand that but they need to do their investigation and not just willy-nilly throw stickers on trailers when they see them," Tom Sudduth said.
Sudduth recommends explaining your trailer to the city to avoid a citation.
"If they're going to get stickered and they're in the right then by all means call the city and let them know," he said.
