ROCKLAND – “I knew very well that if it ever went to court, then we were on thin ice,” Rockland Code Enforcement Officer John Root said of the city’s RV ordinance. However, according to Root, his attempt to clarify the ordinance has turned a simple amendment into an over-complicated issue.

“Initially, I thought that this was pretty straightforward and simple; in fact, another town adopted it the minute they saw it,” Root said during the Council’s Wednesday, July 5 agenda-setting meeting. “I thought I was taking into consideration personal rights, and so forth, as much as anybody would ever want. But there are limitations on letting somebody else live on your own property.”

During the meeting, Root proposed that the city postpone approval. If any Rockland ordinance regarding recreational vehicles were to be approved this month, the law wouldn’t go into effect before the end of summer, he said. Therefore, why not work on it through the winter?

In response, Mayor Will Clayton saw no reason to postpone.

For Root, the issue involves members of the Elks Club who camp in RVs on the club’s property.

“I thought I pretty much addressed what I felt the council had recognized as an issue,” Root said. “It appeared to me that they had a desire to let the Elks Club, and any other similar organization, continue to allow their members – there’s a big difference there – bring their campers for a small fee donated towards their causes.”

According to Root, Elks members have access to bathrooms and showers around town. He also said he recalled that the Elks Club ensures that  members empty their tanks at the treatment facility when necessary.

In response to questioning by Councilor Adam Ackor, Root said that RV ordinance changes would not have permitted the Elks Club to continue its current RV practices.

It was only after receiving a letter from another RV user who pointed out similar practices by Elks members, that he fully realized the Elks procedures. But also pointed out that the difference, under the ordinance, is that the Elks Club is allowed to have visitors for longer periods of time.

“These members are sort of like members of the family, in a roundabout way,” Root said.

Mayor Clayton agreed with Root that news articles and letters to the editors regarding a homeless plight skewed the conversation.

“I don’t support not passing it or postponing it,” Clayton said. “I think it’s ready for it and I’m still in support of this.”

Julie Lewis, chairwoman of the Comprehensive Planning Commission, told council: “My understanding of that, as a resident, was that there was someone in an RV across from the Elks Club. So when they [city officials] are going and trying to enforce the code he’s ready to say, ‘Well, they’re doing it over there.’ And honestly, having spoken with Don and with Bill, it’s a safety issue with city employees when they’re going out to enforce it.”

Lewis, speaking as a resident, said that RVs are sold and used for the purpose of camping.

“Within a 25-mile range of Rockland, there are 10 campgrounds offering space for RVs.... I am against people living in an RV without the hookups required to eliminate any risk of gray water and black water leaking, spilling, or being disposed of in any neighborhoods in Rockland,” she said.

Lewis said she is against people living in RVs in dense areas, of not paying property taxes, and of creating and dwelling in hazardous conditions to themselves and others.

According to Root, any amendment adopted during the Monday, July 10, council meeting would go back to First Reading. That would take it to August. After August, it would be October before it was effective.

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com