An online petition has collected 462 signatures protesting the violation letters being issued to residents in the Pressy Lake/Green Lake area.
The petition, which can be found here, was authored by Kia Zack who has lived on the property owned by her father for almost 30 years. The property is located at Little Pressy Lake on Rayfield Road and is zoned RL-1 Rural.
The letter she received said the TNRD made site visits to the Pressy Lake area in July in response to numerous concerns and complaints. After the 2017 wildfires, the TNRD made loss-related inspections in the area. Since then, many owners have put in time, effort and money to rebuild their properties.
“Others are installing recreational vehicles (RVs) or campers with or without roofs and miscellaneous additions, sheds and so forth. Many of the RVs are without lawful sewage handling.”
Zack said she has company during the May and July long weekends, a yearly family tradition.
When people came to visit she said they would sleep in the trailer and then come into the house to eat and shower. An outhouse on the property is used by everyone, said Zack.
Zack was told to remove the motorhomes and trailers from her property by Sept 6. She is allowed to keep one of the five motorhomes on her property.
“Years of living here and now getting this letter, I want to stop it. That’s why I started this petition.”
An FAQ sheet issued by the TNRD states: “You have a family reunion one long weekend and some teens sleep in a tent or RV in your yard, the TNRD has neither received complaints nor taken enforcement action in such a case.”
Regina M. Sadilkova, the TNRD’s manager of development services said, “There is a fundamental difference between an RV (or two) parked/stored alongside a dwelling (with a kitchen, bathroom, septic field well etc.) versus a parcel with numerous RVs used as dwelling units or used as a campground for short-term rentals.”
One of the concerns listed in the FAQ sheet is that with the increase in fuel prices and with recreational vehicles getting bigger, more of them are being used as permanent (year-round) and seasonal dwellings in rural areas.
Residents such as Zack feel they are not being treated fairly.
“I only have one fifth wheel on my property now,” said Zack.
fiona.grisswell@100milefreepress.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter