Commission discusses but pauses amendment to recreational‑equipment ordinance (campers)

The Mount Clemens City Commission discussed a proposed amendment to Ordinance 17.100 to permit recreational equipment (campers/RVs) to be parked in driveways two days before and after a planned trip, but took no immediate action to change the code.

Commissioner (who introduced the discussion) said the proposal responds to resident complaints and cited eight citations in the previous month as evidence that limited relief would be helpful: "Last month in our statistics, we had 8 residents, that had, camper, you know, were cited for campers," the commissioner said. He described the intended change as a narrow accommodation for loading and unloading prior to and after travel.

Other commissioners and staff raised enforcement concerns. One commissioner noted that if every RV owner called to request temporary permission it could create an operational burden; the community development director (Tingley) had, according to staff, advised leaving the ordinance as written because of enforcement complexity. Another speaker clarified the normal enforcement procedure involves a 10‑day compliance letter unless an emergency exists.

Nut graf: After weighing resident complaints, enforcement practicality and the director's recommendation, the commission decided not to adopt an immediate amendment; the city manager was directed to keep the ordinance as is and the commission invited staff or the city attorney to prepare an amended ordinance for formal consideration if members still want to pursue changes.

The discussion included pragmatic concerns about workload for community‑development staff and the possibility that brief allowances would be abused when not carefully defined. Commissioners asked staff to accept reports of specific post‑citation complaints for individual review rather than broad policy change at this meeting.

The commission did not vote to amend the ordinance during this session; direction was to maintain current enforcement practices and, if desired, request a formal ordinance amendment for a subsequent meeting.