Fed Up with Motorhomes Parked on Your Street? Some Activism May Help

If Peter Aiello does what he says, he will buy a recreational vehicle, stock it with food, toiletries and other essential supplies, and park the RV right in front of the Boyle Heights home of Councilman José Huizar.

After more than a year of tolerating one motorhome after another parked outside his Floristan Avenue residence, Aiello is desperate to prove a point: Why pay property taxes and DWP bills when you can sell your home and purchase a snazzy-looking RV to live in?

Aiello’s “new American Dream,” as he calls it, may be the perfect solution to the problems of many struggling homeowners in our still-shaky economy. And it just might provoke a City Council response that Aiello and his neighbors have long despaired of getting: Outlawing motorhomes in residential areas.

Floristan Nightmare?

On any given day, at least one motorhome can be found parked on Floristan Avenue, one of Eagle Rock’s most expansive, tree-lined residential streets. Because city laws prohibit vehicles from parking on a single spot for longer than 72 hours, motorhomes do move around—but usually down the street or a few side streets away, only to return to the original, preferred parking spot.

Until last February, for about a year, a large RV occupied by a woman was parked outside or near Aiello’s home on Floristan and Grandola. According to Aiello and his neighbors, the vehicle released sewage water and, occasionally, chemical effluents such as radiator coolant, into storm drains.

'Motorhome Lady'

“You wouldn’t believe the stench,” Aiello told Eagle Rock Patch. “Every morning I would wake up to the sight of the ‘motorhome lady.’”

Aiello also got into some nasty arguments with Motorhome Lady, as he began to call her. On one occasion, he was verbally abused when he tried to videotape her presence on Floristan Avenue. (See accompanying video.) “Later, she slapped my camera while standing on the sidewalk,” Aiello said. “But the day I made the Motorhome Lady video was also the last day she camped in our neighborhood.”

Aiello and one of his neighbors, James O’Neill, have complained to Council District 14 staff in Eagle Rock City Hall about the never-ending presence of motorhomes on their street. The residents referred to a Los Angeles Municipal Code provision (L.A. City Ordinance 177876, Sec. 80.69.4), whereby the City Council may ask the Department of Transportation to post signs prohibiting overnight parking (from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.) in a neighborhood where oversized vehicles are “adversely impacting the visibility of oncoming traffic, creating constrictions in the traveled way, or substantially reducing the availability of parking for residents and businesses.” (See PDF file.)

'Six-Street Segments' Puzzle

Eagle Rock City Hall Field Deputy Nate Hayward has responded to Aiello’s and O’Neill’s grievance by telling them that signs prohibiting oversized vehicles from parking overnight can only be posted within an area of “six street segments.”

A street segment, Hayward explained to Patch, refers to both sides of a street between two adjacent intersecting streets. Hayward also confirmed that he told Aiello and O’Neill that signs would only minimally deter RVs from parking in a given area because the vehicles would be free to move to streets nearby that have no signs.

That suits Aiello just fine. “I don’t care where the motorhomes go as long as they don’t park in front of my house,” he said.

'This is Not a Good Street'

Recently, Aiello saw a fairly large motorhome parked across his home. (The RV, shown in an attached photo, is currently parked on Townsend Avenue and Grandola). He rushed out and posted a flyer on the vehicle, with a warning that “this is not a good street” for such activity.

“The lesson we learned regarding this problem is that being patient always works against the neighborhood,” Aielo said, hinting that a slight dose of intimidation can be a terrific deterrent: “Early intervention, including a subtle message that 'the motorhome may not fare well in this neighborhood,' is very important.”

At any rate, said Aielo, “relying on L.A. City is useless.”

For his part, said Hayward, the city’s hands are tied by the existing laws. On numerous occasions, he said, he has asked the Los Angeles Police Department to move RVs that remain parked in front of Aiello’s home longer than 72 hours.

“At the end of the day, there’s very little that can be done about the problem,” Hayward said. “The only solution, frankly, is homeless outreach.”