Is there a website or other social media service that covers your county? We are lucky that a county citizen has been running a website for years and it is an excellent outlet for getting information out to a large number of people.
Seems like you have the news media involved but you have to keep the heat on the elected officials to change this type of law which takes time, effort and people. You would have to link up with existing groups that would support a change of the law. Scouts would be a start since the law prohibits them from camping on private land. The fact the elected official admits she would VIOLATE the law to allow exceptions SHOULD tick people off. hunting, ATV, 4x4 clubs, backpacking/hiking, canoeing and birding groups would all be affected by this law and SHOULD be interested in helping change the law. Given this is a wide spread problem there could/should be wide spread support in these groups to change the law.
These groups are likely to have web sites serving their members which would be helpful in letting people know how the law impacts them. To change this law, you needs hundreds of people packing the county meetings. It would be a big impact if the people were dressed and/or carrying the gear they use when using the outdoors. I would think that many of these groups are camping on private property but they did not know the law prevents them from doing so.
I have camped on private property on canoe trips and I and the group would have been shocked if we had been told that it was illegal to camp on that property. We did have written permission from the land owner.
There will be land owners who DO not want camping next to them, especially in trailers. I know of a couple of situation where people built "structures" and lived in them. The problem was the land was in subdivisions and the places WHERE a safety hazard. One guy was living in a shed built around an old school bus. He ran a generator to provide power that kept him warm by heating his water bed. The place was a real mess and no way would I want that type of neighbor. I know of another situation, in a really nice subdivision of home that cost $300,000 and up, where a family built a shack and were living in it in violation of the HOA and county regulations. For quite some time, they were living in an RV trailer.
If you really want to push this, I would suggest looking at the current law to make sure that the county is following the law. Then, write you own statue that would
replace the existing one, but I would include words that would protect neighboring property owners. Those neighbors will be the most vocal people AGAINST allowing camping on private land. I don't believe that KOA is leading the charge to prevent camping on your own land. Not many people own land AND have RV/RV trailers to go camping. People against camping on your land are the neighbors who do not want a shack driving down their property values and/or having people hooting and hollering all night long at a party. I don't want a bunch of idiots getting drunk on the parcels next to me an keeping me awake at night. That will make me ornery.
:laughing::laughing::laughing:
The county SHOULD already have regulations in place covering noise and shacks. IF there is NOT a noise ordinance I would surly add it to the new camping regulation.
Updated regulation:
Camping is allowed on private land as long as the following requirements are met.
1 - Tent camping is allowed.
2 - RV or RV trailer camping is allowed for no longer than N consecutive nights.
( I would think 7 nights would be a good number but how many days of use can a black water tank hold? Even this language would be easy to work around, just haul the trailer to Walmart for an evening and you get another N days but that would be a PITA for someone really trying to game the law)
3 - If campers are not the land owners, written permission from the land owners, signed within the last year, must be in the possession of the campers.
(This helps enforce the law and prevents trespassers from claiming the land owner told them they could camp. The protects all landowners including the neighbors.)
4 - Trash and waste will be collected at the end of each camping stay and legally handled.
(It is the land owner benefit to do this anyway and trash has a way of getting worse, collecting more trash, and causing problems for neighbors.)
5 - Campers will not make noise that disturbs neighboring land owners.
(OK, this one is tricky. I would be shocked if the county does not have a noise ordinance. If they DO have a regulation, then just state that the noise ordinance applies to camping.)
6 - Violation of this regulation/ordinance(what ever it really is for the county in question) is XXXXX.
(The obvious penalty for the violation would be item 3 which would be trespassing which the county might already cover. Also, not picking up the trash and causing noise are a likely penalties already covered by current regulation)
Try to CHANGE the law to something that allows camping instead of removing the law. I think it is easier to change a law, than remove i,t especially one that impacts other land owners aka voters. By providing an updated regulation, the politician really has to say why they do not want to make a change and keeps the dialog going. It also shows what you are trying to do and should help get other user groups involved.
Later,
Dan
Later,
Dan
