The Parsons Planning Commission on Tuesday took no action that would allow someone to live permanently in an RV in the city, but planners discussed the matter with city commissioners and kicked the issue back to them.
The issue first came to light in late 2023 when the city’s code enforcement officer told Linda Philbrick that zoning rules did not allow her to live in an RV on her son’s property at 1106 S. 14th St. Daniel Jones, Philbrick’s son, helps her live independently on his property and helps care for her. She has said she is disabled and has health issues, and the RV holds the last of her possessions after her husband died in 2022.
In October 2023, city commissioners told Philbrick she could continue to live in the RV while her living arrangement went through the planners. Since then, Jones has followed recommendations from city staff on making the RV a more permanent structure, including connecting it to Jones’ city water and sewer service.
When they first took up the issue, planners opted to make no change to zoning rules that do not allow someone to live in an RV permanently. The decision moved on to the city commission, which kicked the matter back to planners and asked them to consider a variance, which allows exceptions to zoning rules under specific circumstances.
During the discussion Tuesday, City Commissioner Verlyn Bolinger said he suggested that planners consider a variance because he’s familiar with the process as an owner of a corner lot. About every improvement on his property requires a variance, which is a process that includes notifying neighbors and allowing them to speak about the issue. He said someone in Eastborough may not want a neighbor living in an RV in the yard, but Philbrick and her son have complied with everything that was asked of them, and their neighbors support the living situation.
Planner Lowell Wells said he and the other planners recognize Philbrick’s living situation, but allowing such an exception to zoning rules opens the floodgates for the issue to pop up in many other neighborhoods.
“I think there might be places besides Eastborough that might not want somebody with that going on next door in their neighborhood,” Wells said.
Planner Aaron Heady agreed that the city has allowed Philbrick’s living situation to continue for too long and she and her son have complied with everything asked of them to stay. “It’s gone too far to go back.”
The problem is what does the city do going forward to
keep this situation from recurring? He and other planners don’t like the idea of a variance to city zoning regulations.
Bolinger said the variance could be as difficult as the planners wanted. Others may not want to jump through the same hoops that Philbrick and her son have.
Heady noted that Fire Chief Brad Boss said the living situation is not a good idea from a community safety standpoint on multiple levels. Boss said RVs aren’t made for permanent living.
Commissioner Kevin Cruse said commissioners in October 2023 wanted Philbrick to get the RV ready for winter while city boards and staff discussed the RV situation. Her son complied with all asked, even running electric to the RV. He added that he did not want this to happen anywhere else in the community.
City staff has said that there are other locations in the city where people are living in RVs in violation of city zoning rules.
Mayor Eric Strait said he wanted Philbrick to present her case to the planners, as she has done with the city commission. He said he didn’t agree with a variance option for the situation either, saying that could get “very messy.” But the city needed to do something for her but he was not sure what that would be.
Planner Wells said no one is suggesting that Philbrick needs to leave the RV. The question has been how to allow her but not make RVs a common site around town.
During the discussion, planners asked if they could deny a similar living arrangement to the next person if they allowed Philbrick to live in an RV.
Laura Moore, the city’s community development director, said no. If one person is allowed, others are allowed. She didn’t think a variance was the way to go in this situation because that would require rewriting the zoning rules. She added that the city commission can override anything in the zoning regulations or decisions by the planners.
Commissioner Tom Shaw, a former planner, said zoning regulations don’t allow RV living except for temporary situations. He thought the commission needed to ask more questions of City Attorney Ross Albertini to see about options.
He said city staff already made a decision that was ill-advised. The boards just have to be willing to say it was ill-advised.
“I’ve been told if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging,” Shaw said.
Jones said he’s keeping a promise he made to his dad to continue to care for his mother.
Cruse told Jones that commissioners applaud him for the actions he’s taken and for bringing the issue forward when the zoning violation was discovered. But the city was wrong to allow the living situation in the first place.
In the end, planners refused to take action on the issue. Moore said this means that the original planning action stands that refused to make a change in the zoning rules that would allow permanent RV living. While this doesn’t solve the problem, it returns the issue to the city commission to consider.
Subdivision plat approved
Planners also on Tuesday approved a preliminary plat for a housing subdivision that could be developed on the west side of Queens Road and north of Main Street.
The housing area would have 106 lots for building larger homes in a 47-acre area. The development would follow a phased plan, which would start with moving utilities and building other infrastructure for the housing.
Moore said the minimum lot size would be 9,000 square feet.
Jim Zaleski, the city’s economic development director, said the housing subdivision likely would have a homeowners association.
Planner Heady asked if there would be special assessments added to the properties.
Zaleski said one of the potential funding mechanisms would not allow special assessments. He said the homes would be higher end and meet the city’s approach to improving housing stock. The first step is getting rid of dilapidated houses, then adding new homes on empty lots in the city and then creating higher- end houses. More and newer homes generate more property taxes for the city and the county and help pay for city services and improvements.
