Jill Schramm/MDN A trailer sits on a Minot street Wednesday. The Minot City Council wants to consider an ordinance that would shorten the amount of time a motor home, recreational vehicle or any type of trailer can remain unmoved on the street from 48 hours to 24 hours.

Rules could be changing for motorhomes, recreational vehicles and trailers parked on city streets. The Minot City Council on Tuesday supported the drafting of an ordinance change with new parking restrictions, which will be considered at a future meeting.

The existing ordinance restricts parking to 48 hours and requires trailers to be connected to vehicles capable of moving them. The ordinance to be drafted reduces the parking time to 24 hours, after which time the motorhome, recreational vehicle or trailer must be moved one block or 300 feet, whichever is less.

Not all council members were enamored with the language, including the requirement to move the large items.

“I don’t want you to go park in front of some other neighbor’s house down the street. If anything, put it in front of your own,” council member Mike Blessum said.

“I realize all the gamesmanship that goes with that – oh, I move it 20 feet or whatever. But in your mind, is this a code enforcement question overall and we’re just nibbling at the edges here?” Blessum asked Police Chief John Klug.

Klug said the police department typically only responds to complaints about RVs and trailers on the street too long.

“There’s no way for us to patrol every street, looking for every camper and trying to figure out how long it’s been parked. So at the point a neighbor complains, we’ll go out. We’ll take note of where it’s at, and if it’s still there 48 hours later, we can hang a parking ticket, hang a tow tag and force that vehicle to be moved. So, there’s still a process after that. It doesn’t just get impounded automatically,” Klug said.

Asked about contractor’s trailers parked outside work sites, Klug said the important piece is that the trailers be attached to a primary mover so it can be relocated quickly in an emergency.

Mayor Tom Ross said it comes down to enforcement, but the city doesn’t have enough officers to enforce every violation.

“It could be a combination of enforcement and education,” he said.

Council member Mark Jantzer said he fields complaints from residents about parked RVs and trailers.

“Sometimes it’s just neighbors not being very neighborly to one another,” he said.

The council voted 4-3 to draft the ordinance change. Voting in support were Lisa Olson, Scott Samuelson, Rob Fuller and Jantzer. Voting against were Paul Pitner, Ross and Blessum.