BELLA VISTA — City Council members deleted golf cart trailers and the height requirement for screening recreational vehicles at a meeting Monday night.
Nonenclosed trailers 5 feet by 10 feet or smaller, the size of most golf cart trailers, were removed from the proposed ordinance amendment on parking restrictions. The vote was 5-0, with Alderman George Holmes recusing from the vote, stating he had a conflict because of his membership on the Architectural Control Committee Board.
All recreational vehicles larger than 5 by 10 feet, boats and other watercraft, recreational vehicles and truck campers cannot be parked in front of the residence and when parked on the side or rear must be screened with an opaque barrier to block the object from sight. The 8-foot board fence requirement was previously removed.
The amendment also was modified with the removal of the height requirement of a maximum 7 feet for screening purposes with a vote of 5-0. As it stands, the ordinance amendment does not restrict the height of a vehicle to be screened, but wood fences are allowable only to 8 feet, according to the zoning code.
Both issues were added to the proposed amendment after a work session and presentation to the public at the regular council meeting in September. Residents have been vocal about their disagreement with the restriction. Several alderman stated they have received numerous complaints and five people spoke against it at the meeting.
“(The council) is now getting ready to put me out of business with the amenities,” resident Don Stockdale said.
Each public statement ended with applause from the audience.
An additional change was made regarding the number of days a recreational vehicle could be parked in a driveway.
Originally the amendment had seven days, then it was changed to five days and the latest change proposed by Alderman Dick Rooney put it back to seven days. It was approved with a 4-1 vote with Alderwoman Arline Hutchinson voting “no.”
Rooney said he felt it unfairly punished working people who, after returning from camping or boating on a Sunday night, need the following weekend day to complete unpacking and cleaning their recreational equipment.
The changes have nearly returned the amendment to how it started.
“We’re now very close to what the requirements have been for all of my 25 years in Bella Vista,” Mayor Frank Anderson said.
The third reading of the amendment is scheduled for November.