City to Seek Man Camp Moratorium Extension

 

As the oil boom explodes around neighboring cities and rent prices in San Angelo begin to soar, the demand for mobile home and RV parks is on the rise. In order to combat the wild cropping up of man camps citywide, the City enacted a 90-day man camp moratorium in November of last year, which allowed them time to hash out City ordinances governing the construction of temporary living parks.

A.J. Fawver, Interim Director of Development Services, presented an update to City Council on Tuesday on the progress made thus far on ordinances, and noted the need for the extension. “In order to have the final ordinances enacted by the end of the moratorium period, those would have had to be introduced by the beginning of the year,” Fawver said. “The committee has had some substantial progress…I would venture to say that we are probably 90 percent of the way complete for these ordinances.”

Fawver said that in the past, RV and mobile home parks were mostly used as holiday spots, but that growth over the past few years has seen an increase in demand for the locations as temporary living establishments. The City’s objective in implementing the moratorium, Fawver said, was to set up comprehensive regulations for controlled growth.

“We have some things in the ordinance that address those (mobile home and RV park standards), but not very completely, which is part of the reason for the moratorium,” she said. “So we’re kind of updating them and then we’re looking at potentially adding some new sections that would address putting existing parts and any new parts that would come in under the same set of guidelines, because that’s one of the problems right now…they were all authorized under different ordinances, and we have some that we can’t even find evidence of ever having been approved.”

Another motive, Fawver admits, is for some to ensure that San Angelo doesn’t take after neighbors such as Midland/Odessa, with widespread mobile home parks littered on every vacant lot.

“I think every person you could ask would give you a different response to that, but I think a lot of it is we want to plan ahead so that we don’t have uncontrolled growth. That’s probably one of the most common things that I’ve heard from everyone that’s involved in this.”

Fawver also noted an emphasis on communication between the City and mobile home park owners in order to ensure that channels remain open in case of regulatory violations.

“We have to tie it to public health, safety, welfare, but mainly in this instance…right now it’s mainly…making sure that each park owner is responsible for the conduct of the park, the way the park operates, the way it fits into the area—kind of managing those operations so that we have one person in case violations or issues, there’s a point of contact,” she said.

The moratorium was unanimously approved at the Nov. 19, 2013 City Council meeting. Fawver intends to request a 90-day extension on the moratorium at the Feb. 18 Council meeting.

“We don’t feel that we’ll need the entire 90-day period, but it does give you some cushion, if you will, for any discussion that you might have based on the products that are brought to you, as well as to the planning commission,” Fawver said.

The Planning Commission and City staffers working on the ordinances will bring their recommendations to Council in March, however Council will be provided information in advance in order to discuss and prepare questions on the proposed ordinances.

Under the moratorium, the following actions are suspended: all applications for campgrounds or RV usage; no action can be taken for zone changes to manufactured housing parks (MHP); no action can be taken on site plans for campgrounds RV parks; and no action can be taken on applications for expansion of capacity for existing parks and campgrounds.

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What is the location of the man camp in your photograph? I have not seen any man camps in San Angelo, where are they? What type of problems are we experiencing?
Bill Richardson, Thu, 02/06/2014 - 12:50
First a question, where was the picture taken? There is a small amount of oil/gas drilling activity in Tom Green County. Hotels are occupied with workers employed in the Barnhart area however there are several new hotels coming on line. Last year I was told by the president of the local hotel association that there where seven new hotels in the pipeline. Look around San Angelo. There are houses for sale in every area of the city and they are not selling. The house next door was up for sale for a year. It did not sell and is now up for rent. There is a lot of hysterical hype that San Angelo needs to protect itself from the influx of "man camps" but where is the proof to support the hysteria from some members of this city council. The hotspots are farther West in Midland and Martin counties, not Tom Green County. Where is the proof of San Angelo City Council's claim that hoards of barbarians are coming? The below link leads to an article highlighting oil and gas activity in January 2014 http://clineshalesite.com/news/cline-shale-exploration-activity-january-17th-2014/#more-1710 Let us be rational and discreet and not drive away business.
Yes, great point. They do need water and these camps house 3-4 men per dwelling and there are many more dwellings on a lot that might normally only accommodate one or two dwellings. This is my main concern with these camps sprouting up all over West Texas, not just in Tom Green County. The companies they work for are not only draining our water supplies for fracturing operations, but their workers understandably need to bathe, drink and cook. Then in a few years, after they've used up all the water, they will pack up and leave us permanent residents without water.
live, Thu, 02/06/2014 - 15:12

Because we are tireless in our efforts to inform, and Bill Richardson said we're all alarmed at Man Camps, and that Chelsea chose s stock photo of a foreign RV park on this story, I feel sufficiently flogged. I have instructed staff to take pictures of man camps and post them generously throughout this website and our social media networks.

Bill Richardson, Thu, 02/06/2014 - 15:41
Mr. Hyde if you read what I wrote my remarks where directed at San Angelo City Council. My remarks where directed at no one at San Angelo Live. Very disappointing you are not able to be objective and have stooped to personal attacks against San Angelo residents. Plus I was not the only San Angelo resident who asked where the picture was taken.
live, Thu, 02/06/2014 - 17:16

I promised more pictures of man camps to show my repentence for Chelsea's liberal use pictures of RV parks. And now you continue the beatings. Gosh, I'm starting to feel like Rodney Fleming!

They might not be here but that's not to say they could be here if Oil and other natural gas companies had their way. This is one the few proactive measure taken by City Council to prevent that reality. They said no before it became another headache to our already strained living situation. Everybody knows the real camps to watch out for are homeless encampment. They take away from beauty of San Angelo and there are a threat to our existence. Remember it was a homeless guy who try to stay warm himself up yesterday at Picnic Bend Park that erupted in a structure fire. If the winds were any worse, we might had one heck of a grass fire but it was contained. Furthermore, another vagrant tried to warm himself up this summer and set off another structure fire at a warehouse downtown. I thought there was some kind of coalition that was looking in helping them. If not , they could be on the agenda for a future City Council meeting but I don't say I told you so.
Bill Richardson, Fri, 02/07/2014 - 11:15
Mr. Hyde American RV has been in business in San Angelo for thirty years and has an excellent relationship with the City of San Angelo. I am sure Mr. Fleming has nothing against American RV or any other San Angelo Business business.

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