Vacaville Considers Pulling Plug On Parking Lot Campers
VACAVILLE (CBS13) - The city of Vacaville is trying to become green by installing charging stations for electric cars, but now that eco-friendly effort has some unintended consequences with gas-guzzling motorhomes moving in.
There's growing concern the Vacaville park-and-ride parking lot is becoming popular for all the wrong reasons.
"They seem to be here all the time," Nancy Sanguinetti said.
"This ain't a mobile home park," Steve Gomez said. "They need to leave."
Several motorhomes are now using it after hours as an urban campground. People living in RVs even have access to power, courtesy of the built-in electric vehicle charging stations powered by the sun.
"We're trying to avoid having it become a big problem," said city spokesman Mark Mazzaferro.
"It's not safe for us pulling up that early and not knowing who is in the camper," commuter Barbara Niles said. "It's safety to us as well as them."
Vacaville city leaders on Tuesday will consider banning this self-service freebie and make it illegal to plug in vehicles not being charged.
"The issue is there are certain areas set up for campers where they have places to plug in, places to dump your waste, those kinds of things," Mazzaferro said.
CBS13 talked with some campers who didn't want to go on camera. They say living in an RV is their only option.
"We've only been here about a week or two," one said through a screen door.
And when forced out? "We just move. There's a gas station over there. We'll move around. We can stay in a parking space for three days."
But that's not what commuters who use the lot want to hear. They'll simply feel safer once the city pulls the plug on parking lot campers.
If the City Council votes to make it illegal, the ban would take effect in 30 days.
