RV issues

MOSES LAKE — The city of Moses Lake is still looking at sites for parking RVs used as residences — eight of which are parked along North Central Drive — and hopes to have some possible options to give to the city council at their next formal meetings in early May.

“We are looking at surplus city properties, and we will bring options to you on May 11 to move the units,” City Manager Allison Williams told council members during their previous regular meeting on April 11.

Williams said the city needs to look at other options because a long strip of land right next to the current homeless sleep center on which the city has an easement is jointly held with a private landowner. And that landowner, Williams said, does not want to grant the city permission for parking of homeless vehicles used as residences, in order to maintain clear access for firefighters for around 29 acres of undeveloped, brush-covered land.

“The property owner is adamantly opposed,” Williams said.

The open strip sits between the current sleep center, two parcels owned by farm co-op Cenex, and the roughly 29 acres listed as owned by Kris Dexter, according to data available from the Grant County Assessor’s Office.

According to City Attorney Katherine Kennison, the city is also in talks with Kevin Richards, the owner of the land where the sleep center is located, about changes needed in order to sign a long-term lease, including landscaping, a permanent fence, paved parking, and repairs to the current individual sleep cabins, many of which are in disrepair.

“We’re working on a site plan, and we will present that to the property owner,” Kennison said. “We will come back to you with costs.”

Council Member Judy Madewell, however, said she researched current city ordinances and state laws and wanted to know why the city cannot enforce its 14-day parking limit per calendar year for campers and cars on city streets.

“So help us out here,” Madewell said.

Kennison said the ordinances are still in place, but the ability to enforce them is limited following a Washington State Supreme Court decision in 2021 that found a vehicle used as a primary residence qualifies for protection under the state’s homestead act, which is designed to ensure primary residences cannot be taken away from people when they file for personal bankruptcy.

“We can issue infractions and ask people to leave. That’s not the issue. The issue is what happens when they refuse to leave,” she said.

Kennison said, under current restrictions, the city is not allowed to impound vehicles used as primary residences unless it’s for permanent parking to give the vehicles and their owners a place to stay and cannot levy excessive fines against owners.

“Can we charge $1?” asked Council Member Dave Skaug.

Kennison also said even if the city were to tow away any of the offending RVs — eight are currently parked in “stub-outs” on the north side of Central Drive — no impound lot will currently take them.

However, City Engineer Richard Law noted that the three “stub-outs” along Central Drive designed for future streets in any development are actually on private property. The roughly 40 acres are listed as owned by Yao’s LLC, a company registered to Ted Yao with a mailing address in Malmo, Sweden, according to data available online from both the Grant County Assessor’s Office and the Washington State Secretary of State’s Office.

“We have notified the owner, but they don’t live in the U.S.,” Law said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.