Let’s say one’s neighbors invite friends to bring their recreational vehicle and spend the weekend on their property.

Most Auburn residents might say OK to that.

But hackles go up when the neighbor’s relatives or friends park an RV there and live in it for months.

Or when the manager of a business allows a caretaker to stay on his or her lot to keep an eye on things.

From time to time, Auburn residents tell City Code Enforcement Officers that this version of RV living is bad for their neighborhoods.

And they want the City to do something about it.

Problem is, while the Auburn City Code today provides definitions, permitting requirements and development regulations for RV parks, it has zip to say about how the City should regulate RV living outside of RV parks.

That is likely to change soon because the City is keen on establishing regulations that describe the permitting requirements, circumstances, and time spans under which they will allow people to live in RVs.

City staff presented suggested rule changes to the Planning Commission on June 2, 2015. Commission members raised the following points during their meeting:

• That if RV(s) are located on private residential properties, it is appropriate to let friends or family live within those units to reduce homelessness.

Staff responded that surrounding neighbors perceive RV living on adjacent lots as degrading their property values, and that other types of undesirable activity accompany these situations;

• If the City were to require a permit for placement of an RV on a residential lot, the inspection should focus on ensuring that the occupants are living within a safe and healthy environment and not on whether there is an impact to the surrounding residential neighbors. City staff members responded that they do not have any standards to refer to in this type of inspection. Recreational Vehicles are not regulated under the International Building Code, which is the set of rules that govern occupancy limits, utility connections, or structural integrity, so it would  be difficult to make a life/safety determination in these scenarios.

Here’s what other local cities do:

• The City of Kent allows an RV to be used as a temporary dwelling unit, provided the interval does not exceed 90 days, and that the use of the RV is consistent with the underlying zone. What it means is that Kent lets people live in an RV in residential and mixed-use zones for up to 90 days, but prohibits them from living in RVs in commercial and industrial zones.

• Puyallup allows people to use RVs as temporary lodging on the site of an active construction project, but for no longer than six months. The City also requires that the owner obtain a temporary use permit to place the RV and to use it as temporary lodging.

• The cities of Federal Way, Renton and Tacoma do not permit anyone to live in an RV outside of an approved RV park.

“We have asked City staff to research possible code language and establish a code with health and safety standards,” said City Councilman John Holman, chairman of the Auburn City Council Study Sessions.