Editorial:
RV Park Owners, Quit You're Whining!

by Steven Fletcher

Newspaper Stories Recounting Attempts by Campground & RV Park Owners to Restricting RV parking Abound. A more recent one was an attempt at the state level in Nevada. It's my opinion this can't be good for RVing.

The bill introduced in the Nevada legislature was sponsored RV Park and campground owners backup by the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC). As the bill was worded, the restrictions would have applied to any publicly accessible parking lot. This could include casinos, truck stops, and even dirt or gravel boondock parking areas throughout the state.

Fortunately, thanks primarily to the Escapees Club, the word got out and RVers from around the country flooded Nevada legislators with email and phone calls and the bill didn't get out of committee.

It's disappointing that we have to fight these attacks on our RVing freedom but it's even more disappointing when they are fostered by an RV related business association.

Each time I hear about an RV park owner going before a city council or county board of supervisors to lament how his business suffers because RVers overnight at Wal-Mart I get a little more angry.

Using the same logic I would expect restaurant owners to try and ban household kitchens because when people cook at home restaurants lose business. It's just absurd.

What is even more absurd is that in trying to enact these parking restrictions they anger the very people they want as customers in their parks. What other business do you know of that deliberately alienates potential customers?

It's time campground and RV park owners and their associations abandon these short sighted efforts and turn their attention and resources to the more productive pursuit of attracting RVers to their parks. That's the way the rest of the business world gets customers. It works too!

That's what I think about it... what do you think?

Reader Comment:

Hey Steven, the next time you here the RV parks whining about people staying at a Walmart of other place overnight ask them this question will you. What kind of quick access, cheap place do you provide for these same people?

If hey could provide a space for an RV to pull into, with no services at a small price then I could understand their complaints. But for them to want a RVer to pull into a full service site for around 40-50 bucks a night is ridiculous. When the RV parks start to provide this quick and basic service then they MIGHT have a point to their complaint. Otherwise I would suggest they go park in their own parks and see wht services they are not providing. After all how much would a large parking area with no services cost to maintain... mow the grass twice a month?????

Jerry Frawley