Town staff will be reviewing recreational vehicle parking over the summer months with the hope that town council will approve a recommendation to amend Olds' Land Use Bylaw in September.
Council got an update on the issue at its May 21 policies and priorities committee meeting.
Town staff has been looking at recreational vehicle parking over the past several months with a view to increasing the driveway width on new lots to about 10.5 metres wide from the current average of about seven metres across.
Larry Wright, the town's director of operations, said the issue for the town is standardizing the driveway widths across all lot sizes in the community in order to accommodate trailers, boats and larger recreational vehicles.
“(RV parking is) a fairly big question for the community,” said Coun. Harvey Walsh.
“I think we need some rules in place. It's a hot-button issue. I think we need a time frame (on consultation),” Coun. Wade Bearchell added.
On older lots that don't have paved driveways, Wright said neighbours have expressed some concerns about the unsightly nature of mud and dust on an adjacent property.
“A bigger picture issue is hard-surfacing the existing lots. We've had a lot of concerns raised (at the Municipal Planning Commission),” Wright said in an interview, adding that question brings up other issues such as the amount of lot coverage allocated for driveways and how much separation there should be between lots.
As for newer lots, Wright said builders have been talking with town staff about balancing the need for a reasonable amount of space for storage of vehicles while still making new properties marketable.
“Everyone has a little different need and a little different circumstance and it makes these issues very difficult to come to a consensus on,” he said.
