In Santee recreational vehicles have to be moved every 72 hours, but an old ordinance did not say how far they actually had to move.
"If everybody adhered to the spirit of the law all the time — we wouldn’t have these issues," said Santee Vice Mayor Rob McNelis. "But that’s just not the reality of it."
New rules say the oversized vehicles have to be moved at least 300 feet every three days.
"We’re tightening it up so you can’t just move your RV a foot and say, 'Well, I moved it,'" McNelis said.
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Updated regulations also prohibit RVs from parking within 50 feet of an intersection. McNelis hopes the new rules will force RVs off neighborhood streets.
"Just driving around our fire department can’t get through some of the streets safely," McNelis said. "Kids can’t be seen in the streets or even in the sidewalks."
Some disagree with the safety aspect, saying people in Santee are used to dealing with RVs.
"Honestly, until something happens, I don’t think that’s going to be an argument," said Keith Brown who works at California RV in Santee. "I really don’t. Until somebody runs into one, and then it blows up.”
Brown said in his experience, potential owners are concerned about campers fitting in their driveways.
"There’s a lot of people measuring, you’d be surprised," he said. "I maybe have a couple people a week in here making sure it will fit."
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With limited storage options for RVs in Santee, the city council also changed zoning laws to make storage facilities easier to be built. McNelis said there will be a grace period for enforcement of the new regulations. Normally the San Diego County Sheriff’s substation in Santee is responsible for ticketing or towing violators — but the city is looking into having code compliance officers handle that.
