A resolution declaring a housing crisis and a proposed six-month moratorium on RV camping restrictions in Langley authored by Mayor Scott Chaplin was hastily dialed back at this week’s city council meeting.

Before the discussion on the topic began, Chaplin prefaced it by acknowledging he probably “jumped the gun” by drafting such a formal resolution in response to the city’s current lack of affordable housing for workers. Rather, he said he intended it to be a “conversation starter.”

In the council meeting’s documents, he referenced an article written by The South Whidbey Record last month about Island County commissioners, who were considering a moratorium to loosen restrictions for people wanting to live in an RV on private property with the owner’s permission.

Currently, Langley allows camping in RVs on private property up to 30 days, with a permit. Chaplin’s proposal would do away with the time restriction during the period of a moratorium.

Councilmember Thomas Gill said he thought RV living should be outright allowed, providing sanitary services are offered.

“It’s never made any sense to me that we would restrict the use of someone’s personal property on private property for no other reason than simply it looks bad,” he said.

Other council members were a little more hesitant.

Councilmember Gail Fleming said she did not think a moratorium would be the best way to go and suggested either changing the ordinance or writing a new one.

Councilmember Harolynne Bobis said she agreed with Fleming, but also added that a longer-term solution is needed. As she pointed out, even if the Coles Valley PUD application gets approved, there won’t be homes built for years.

“We need something to bridge that gap from now to then,” she said. “I don’t know what that is, but we absolutely have to think about it.”

Councilmember Craig Cyr worried about major impacts to the city’s public works and the police department.

“It’s kind of stunning to read the resolution and think about the level of work that would need to be pulled together to bring this into operation,” he said.

Councilmember Rhonda Salerno said that while she wasn’t against what Chaplin was proposing, she did believe the policy needed a lot of vetting. She also said policies need to be based on good research.

Perhaps sensing that the moratorium wasn’t a popular choice, Chaplin suggested instead extending the 30-day period of time people could apply for a permit to camp in RVs on private property. That way, he pointed out, law enforcement is not involved. The city could additionally choose to limit the number of permits given out.

Gill recommended conducting health inspections for the RVs, just as are required for short-term rentals. In addition, he said limiting the number of RVs per property could go a long way in addressing the police chief and the community’s concerns.

“We’re trying to deal with the underhoused, and those who are not in safe situations, giving them some opportunity to get out of that situation and move into something that gives them the opportunity to move forward and to move up,” he said.

Police Chief Tavier Wasser said if the permitting period was extended and health and living conditions were ensured, the problems he worried about would be circumvented.

Meredith Penny, Director of Community Planning, said any changes to the permitting process or length of time needs to be done through an ordinance. She said she thought it was a good idea to explore extending permitting beyond 30 days.

“We could extend it up to 180 days,” she said. “I think there’s some concerns with allowing it longer than 180 days because you start getting into the conflict of what is considered a dwelling unit.”

A moratorium on enforcing the city’s camping ordinance, she added, could open up a lot of unintended consequences that would be difficult.

Director of Public Works Randi Perry said she was glad the mayor pulled back his resolution and turned it into a conversation piece. She questioned where the demand for RV camping is coming from, and agreed with Salerno’s earlier point that policy changes should be based on data.

Gill suggested that instead of campers applying for the permit, it should be property owners. And instead of extending the time period of the permit, he suggested being able to renew it another 30 days.

Penny said that she liked the idea of renewing a permit, and it could be done either by ordinance or resolution.