RV parking law remains a puzzle

By JEFF MORRIS 

Fans of the TV series “I Love Lucy” may be aware that, at the height of that show’s popularity, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz also starred in the 1954 film comedy, “The Long, Long Trailer” about a pair of newlyweds who buy a trailer home for their honeymoon and experience a series of mishaps as they travel from California to Colorado. 

Flash forward to 2026, and the length of that trailer could be matched by the length of the discussions about where such a recreational vehicle might be parked in the town of Bedford.

At its Feb. 3 meeting, for the third straight month the Town Board considered an amendment to town code, “to prohibit certain size Recreational Vehicles in a list of other vehicles that are prohibited from parking on any public street or right of way in Residential districts and in certain Town parking lots.” 

Supervisor Ellen Calves said the measure had been updated to remove the need for a permit, and to increase the size of vehicles in the definition to be the larger RVs that are difficult to see around or drive around.

The vehicles will be prohibited on town roads in residential districts, and will be allowed in Commuter Lots 3 and 2 in Katonah, and Railroad Avenue in Bedford Hills, following the posted rules in those lots, paying the $10 parking fee during regular hours, with parking free on weekends, holidays and overnight.

The meeting ended with the proposal again being adjourned, this time with Calves saying, “Hopefully one more go around.”

All of this stemmed from complaints lodged last year by a number of Katonah residents about an RV in which someone had been living and parking in their neighborhood for months. According to board members, the person in the RV had rejected offers of any kind of services, and the presence of the oversized vehicle on the street was a safety hazard.

Under the latest proposed revision, no commercial or industrial vehicle except for one “parked temporarily for the purpose of delivering or picking up goods, wares or merchandise, or rendering services” would be permitted to park on any public street or town right-of-way in a residential district, or in any town public parking lots without first obtaining a parking permit — provisions that are already in place. 

The code would specifically prohibit RVs over 20 feet long or over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight from parking in residential districts, while allowing such RVs “to park for no more than three consecutive days in Town Lots 2 or 3 or Town Commuter parking on Railroad Avenue in accordance with posted regulations.” Such RVs would not, however, be permitted to park in any other “town-owned, operated and maintained public parking lot.”

A public hearing opened on Jan. 20 was continued, and as at the last hearing, Sally Corbett-Turco, the executive director of Stepping Stones, was the first speaker. She said the revision was “greatly improved” and thanked the board. She received assurances about RVs being able to park in commercial areas and the Railroad Avenue lot.

Scott Whalen of Bedford Hills said he owned a smaller RV that would not be affected by the law, but was worried that he could be affected if he upgraded in the future. He also was concerned that because there are various classes of RVs based on different body types and number of wheels, someone could find a way to get around the law.

Board member Stephanie McCaine said she was happy that the revision incorporated her earlier concerns. She wanted to be sure that the parameters were “covering what we want to cover without being overly prohibitive,” and board member Tom Catoliato said, even though he would “love to close the public hearing today,” he would do further research on classes by size and number of wheels. That information will be provided to town Attorney Eric Gordon as he further revises the law.

“I would love to get to a place where we’re going to land on this,” Calves said.

The board agreed to include a provision giving the supervisor the ability to grant an exception in special circumstances, and adjourned the public hearing again until their next meeting.