Clarendon considers RV park ordinance

The City of Clarendon is considering RV park regulations and code enforcement as leaders try to prepare the community for possible growth in the future.

Several neighboring communities are grappling with the influx of workers from data centers, and many are experiencing a surge in RV park developments as housing markets can’t keep up with demand.

The Clarendon City Council looked at an RV park ordinance from the City of Claude and a draft ordinance from the City of Memphis during a called meeting last Thursday. All of Clarendon’s aldermen agreed that the city needs to be ready if a new development comes to town, and they compared the two sets of rules with the help of Interim City Administrator Floyd Hartman.

The council decided to use Claude’s ordinance as its basis and add elements of Memphis’ proposed rules to craft regulations in the City of Clarendon.

Some of the general items agreed to last week were spacing requirements for RV parks, prohibiting open fires at RV parks, requiring RV parks to have commercial utility and trash accounts, requiring permits to build and annual licenses to operate RV parks, and requiring fencing. 

During the meeting, officials suggested the new rules would apply only to new RV parks and would not apply to existing facilities until those change hands and then the new rules would apply.

Hartman explained several items of the Claude and Memphis ordinances and also guided the council about the pros and cons of different ways to implement RV park regulations based on his years of experience in city government.

The council also discussed the need for improved code enforcement and to consider returning to requiring building permits as necessary in order for any RV park ordinance to be effective and for the city to be prepared for growth. 

Hartman will have the city attorney review the council’s ordinance ideas and bring a draft ordinance to the next city meeting. He said he believes the city could have rules in place by September or October.

The proposed RV regulations come after a June council meeting in which aldermen agreed they wanted to be proactive and have Clarendon ready for growth.