Williston, North Dakota city fathers have a problem: Too much of a good thing. Williston has become a boom town, complete with thousands of workers who need a place to hang up their boots at night. For many of them, the boot rack is in an RV, and the town council decided too many RVs were too much of a good thing: City commissioners proposed make living in an RV in Williston a crime.
The town fathers didn't plan on the backlash they received. In a recent council meeting, crowds begged the commissioners to send their plan packing and leave the RVers alone. One representative from a convenience store chain says over 70 percent of their employees live in RVs. In 45 minutes of testimony, only two people supported the RV-living ban--a woman who said a "man camp" in her neighborhood made her afraid to let the children outside, and an apartment complex manager who was tired of running RVs off her lot.
Estimates say Williston hosts some three to four hundred full-time RVers. The 2010 census said Williston had some 15,000 residents, but with the boom, figures are hard to come by.
Commissioners asked for a show of hands of those attending the meeting who opposed the proposed ban and a majority flagged the measure down. Taking an official, wait-and-see stance, city fathers then moved to open a 30-day written comment period on the proposal that would force RVers to live in RV parks or get out of Dodge.
photo: lindsey gee on flickr.com
3 comments:
People should be free and allowed to live their lives, especially when they are not breaking the law. Now they want to make it illegal, so innocent people are guilty? We support the RV industry 100%. RVSalesOfBroward . com
You know when times are tough you do what gets you through. A used RV can be bought for a fraction of renting or buying a home. It gives you the ability to keep private and if you have to find a new job you have your whole world right there and can move on. We almost lost our home but we felt OK in the fact that if nothing else we could still not be homeless since we have our RV. Just leave people alone as long as they are using the communities services and contributing to the economy of the area. Most people want to just work hard and sleep in a safe place.
Well done.
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