Last September about two dozen residents attended a Jefferson city council meeting at which the council discussed changing an ordinance so as to prohibit parking campers and boats in the front yard of a residence. The change had been suggested by the planning and zoning board.
Council members delayed a decision, saying there wasn’t a level of urgency. Council members said they’d visit with the 10 or so residents who parked their campers in a way that might cause a safety hazard.
City building and zoning officer Chad Stevens reminded the council of that decision at the June 25 meeting when resident Gary Turner, who lives north of the Union Pacific tracks, spoke during the open forum about the property across the street from his N. Maple St home. Turner called the property an “eyesore” and told the council, “the place is a junk yard. It really is.”
He added that the property owner, who doesn’t live in Jefferson, “isn’t the nicest guy, but there’s no reason we should have to put up with this.”
Turner said the property is zoned commercial, “but that shouldn’t make any difference.”
When asked what could be done, Stevens answered a change in the ordinance would be needed. “You can park trucks, trailers, campers, boats, whatever you want to in your yard…. We talked about it a year or so ago and we had some heated debate about it. You can park whatever you want to in your yard.”
Stevens said anything that can be hitched to a vehicle and pulled down the road is a trailer and is allowed to be parked in a front yard.
“It’s easier with a vehicle,” Stevens said. “If it doesn’t run, it’s junk. It’s tougher with a trailer or a camper or a boat.”
Darren Jackson and Harry Ahrenholtz are on the council’s housing committee that deals with zoning issues. Jackson said they would look at the issue. Requiring a trailer be licensed to be parked in a yard wouldn’t solve the problem, according to Stevens. “You could have 10 trailers and if they’re all licensed, they could be parked in your yard,” he said.
Stevens added that some of the trailers in the unsightly yard are moved occasionally.
“We put in what sort of fencing people could have. I think we can figure out something here, too,” Jackson said.
The council’s housing committee meets as needed. Jackson and Ahrenholtz agreed it’s time to meet.
