Loves propose RV alternative to county

RBC — Ginny and Sam Love went before county commissioners again Monday. This time, with a different proposal.
“We are offering to you a compromise to assure the safety and health of those families (who will have to move out of Love’s RV Park by the end of the month),” Ginny Love said to commissioners. “… allow the families that are left in the park, that have found no place to go, to be able to stay and pay utilities only.”
Commissioners have ordered the park closed July 31, when its conditional use permit expires.
Previously, the Loves requested an extension of the park’s permit, which the county has not granted. They also have asked the county to consider the location for a new RV park, at a different site.
As part of the Loves’ newest proposal, they offered the following:
“We will not charge them (RV owners) rent to stay in the park until they can find an appropriate location that has hookups and proper amenities to provide both a safe and healthy environment,” Ginny Love said. “We will move the RVs to the far west end, away from the homes (in the adjacent subdivision) that are currently occupied, and we will move the entrance/exit to our private lane that comes by our home, to alleviate the traffic by the homes where there are people living.”
One homeowner, Glenn Wilson, sent the county a letter last month saying he may pursue legal action against the Loves and the county, if the RV park doesn’t close at the end of July.
Additionally, the Loves said they would not take in any new renters, and they would move the trash dumpsters, so they are a farther distance from the subdivision.
County officials have been told residents of Love’s RV Park will be able to move over to the Stagecoach Campground, located on the other side of Highway 13.
“Enterprise (Gas Processing) has assured the county that they will have spaces available before July 31 for all of their employees that currently reside in your park,” County Planning Director Jeff Madison stated in a letter to the Loves, dated July 3.
Many of the residents of Love’s RV Park work for Enterprise. At one point, there were nearly 100 RVs in the Love’s Park.
“Our biggest concern is that not all of these people will find places,” Ginny Love said. “They have been looking everywhere.”
County officials met with representatives of Enterprise last Friday, and again were told there would be space available for all of the residents from Love’s RV Park.
“They assured us they were on schedule (making upgrades to the park) and they still fully intended to meet that schedule and there was space available for everybody who wanted it,” Madison said.
He said the county has done what it can to accommodate residents of Love’s RV Park.
“We think we have gone above and beyond with this,” Madison said. “It may not be what Sam and Ginny wanted, I understand that. There were lots of competing concerns. Sam and Ginny like to play this out like we are not compassionate.
“It’s not the what. It’s not the RV park. It’s not the people in the RV park. It’s not the county versus the new people (moving to town for work in the pipeline industry),” Madison said. “It’s the where, because of the inherent problems with RV parks and subdivisions.
“We made it clear from the get-go we would not allow this (Love’s RV Park) to remain,” Madison said. “They were told that over a year ago. That’s why we went to such great lengths with Enterprise to make sure they would have spaces for everybody.”
The Stagecoach Campground and RV Park is owned by Mike and Sharon Clark of Meeker and leased by Berry Bros., a general contractor out of Berwick, La.
Joe Berry, president of Berry Bros., said upgrades on the park were coming along.
“We are diligently working to accommodate as many people as we can by the end of this month,” Berry said. “We have been asked by the county to try to accommodate all of those people (from Love’s RV Park), and we are trying to do that. I don’t know what the time frame will be, but that is our goal.”
The first 30 or so RVs from Love’s were scheduled to move over to Stagecoach on Wednesday.
“We are going to accommodate the Enterprise people first,” Berry said. “But we will try to accommodate everyone by the end of the month.”
Commission Chairman Forrest Nelson told the Loves the county would take their proposal under consideration, but made no promises beyond that.
“We thank you for your input … we’ll talk to some of our departments,” Nelson said. “As I’ve understood, there are plenty of spaces available. It depends where they want to go.”
Commissioner Joe Collins wondered how many families would be affected, if not allowed to move into Stagecoach, or there was no space available.
“How many trailers are we talking about?” he asked.
“Right now, Joe, I would say there probably are going to be 30 that haven’t found a place to go, 25 to 30,” Ginny Love said.
“There are some pretty desperate people out there,” Sam Love said,”people with families, and they’ve got 40-foot RVs. And they can only be allowed to bring a 37-footer in (to Stagecoach), and the slide-outs are right next to each other.”
Ginny Love asked Commissioner Ken Parsons if he knew whether any space was available on the west end of the county.
“To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing in Rangely,” Parsons said. “But there is in Dinosaur.”
The Loves also requested a work session with commissioners “to further discuss the situation and come up with a valid solution that is both for the safety and health of those involved.”
The Loves asked for a response from the county within three business days.
“These people deserve better than what they are receiving at this time from this county,” the Loves said in their letter to commissioners. “We have a welcome sign at our town’s entrance, perhaps we should start now by practicing what we preach.”