Opinion: No Elephants in Marathon Meetings

A 26-mile marathon for an elite 20-year old runner is 2 hours and 49 minutes. That could be completed during Callaway’s 3-hour Commission meeting! 

It was brought to the attention of the City Manager that a rooster crows in Callaway every morning from 5 am until 6:15 am. Code Enforcement said they would be right on it in the morning. No more cock-a-doodle-doos! 

Last year, the commission rejected an amendment to “Specific Parking Requirements for Travel Trailers.” Waivers to park items in the front yard were declined, so citizens tried a different tactic. Before amending, the maximum height allowed was 15 feet and the trailer had to be screened by a buffer or parked in an enclosed garage or covered carport. Other items such as RVs had to be parked in the back yard, preferably behind a fence so neighbors and potential buyers in the neighborhood wouldn’t see them. Citizens who were proud of their homes built fences, garages and carports and planted gardens to maintain the beauty. The amendment would have allowed the parking of travel trailers in front yards in the open. This is typically allowed out in the country but not in a city. The commission wisely, and unanimously, voted “NO” to the amendment because it would have a detrimental effect on property values of nearby homes and on the pursuit of happiness outdoors by the neighbors. 

Callaway’s commissioners are not elephants*. They seem to have forgotten last year’s decision. Proposed Ordinance 1114, “Specific Parking Requirements for Major Recreational Equipment” is even more extreme than travel trailers in front yards. This ordinance would again remove the requirement for screening or parking an item in an enclosed garage or covered carport, but instead of allowing a travel trailer in the front yard, it would allow parking or storage of any piece of Major Recreational Equipment, to include any vehicle, vessel, trailer, or large equipment used primarily for recreational purposes, including Recreational Vehicles, dune buggies, race cars, Travel Trailers, camping trailers, truck campers, motor homes, boats, boat trailers, jet skis, utility trailers, and similar recreation equipment, in a driveway, rear yard, side yard, or front yard. This is not an improvement of last year’s proposal. If a person can afford to buy boats, RVs, and other luxuries, their budget needs to include the cost of storage somewhere else, or the cost to build a garage or put up a fence around the backyard. 

Changing “travel trailers” parked in the open to “Major Recreational Equipment” parked in the open would still reduce property values of neighboring homes in Callaway. To be fair, if the ordinance was passed, shouldn’t Callaway then reimburse the expense of every fence, garage and screen that the commission required before the passing of Ordinance 1114? 

This agenda item was tabled after the discussion by Commissioner Pelletier. Thank you, Bob. 

Callaway Commission, please vote “NO” at the next meeting!

(*Elephants never forget.)

Karen Custer, Precinct 25 Committeewoman

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