Nevada County pauses vote on legalizing RV living

The Nevada County Board of Supervisors was set to vote on legalizing RV living on Tuesday. The vote was put on hold, while staff were directed to make revisions to the proposed ordinance.

It's estimated that about 1.000 people are already living in RVs under the radar, including Tom Durkin. Durkin has been spearheading the legalization of RV living since 2019.

Durkin had a health scare over the weekend and left the hospital to attend the meeting.

"I've been working on this for seven years," he said. "My goal is to get people housed."

About a year ago, Burkin invited us to his trailer, where he's been living for the last eight years, which is technically illegal.

Tuesday's meeting was a packed house as a few dozen people lined up to speak about the proposed ordinance. Most voiced their support, but some opposed the idea.

"I think this is a terrible thing for the county. I was on the land use committee for the general plan in the mid-90s and we were very clear that we wanted any additional building to happen in the community areas where the services were available," said Barbara Deschamps, a Nevada County resident.

Some of those against the ordinance are concerned about the criteria that the RV must be on at least 3 acres of land.

"We have a lot of roads in this county that are sub-standard right now for evacuation, and adding a whole bunch of more people out there in these rural communities is just going to make it worse in case of a fire," said Deschamps.

But the ordinance has restrictions. There's a lot of criteria to qualify for it, including registering the RV with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, meeting safety standards, having septic, and having proper permitting and inspections.

This comes on the heels of Nevada County legalizing tiny homes on wheels. The ordinance is very similar to that.

"I heard about this ordinance and I realized middle-class folks are retiring, selling their homes and moving into RVs and living year-round in the RV traveling state to state. So why can't someone locally live in an RV?" said Charly Price of Nevada County.

Price performed a song during the meeting, urging the supervisors to legalize living in RVs.

"There's not enough housing. And this is not necessarily the ideal solution, but it's the best solution for right here, right now," said Durkin.

Nevada County would be the first in the state to adopt an ordinance like this.

"It's a tough problem, and we're trying to do something nobody else in the state is doing right now," said Durkin.

The board of supervisors will reconvene and vote likely within the next three months.