The Paradise Town Council voted last week to extend Temporary Use Permits allowing residents to live in RVs on their property. The 4-1 decision gave Camp Fire survivors until September 30 to apply for rebuild permits or meet other thresholds.
Mayor Steve Crowder said now that the ordinance is coming to a close he's getting calls from residents who want to comply.
"We want to get you placed in permanent housing, we have compassion," Crowder said. "We also do have citizens complaining to us about 'we need these RVs gone.'"
The single no vote was from councilmember Steve "Woody" Culleton, who wanted to extend the deadline to April of 2022. Community members like Diane Watts said they cannot afford to rebuild, and many are waiting to receive payment from the PG&E Fire Victims Trust fund.
"My father has lived in this town longer than all of you, and he will be cited if he does not get a building permit. He lives in his motor home, he asks nothing of this town," Watts said in a statement at the meeting. "All he wants is to live on his property. I plead with you, let these people stay until they get their finances."
While the extension gave many Paradise residents three more months to get in compliance, it also affected the criteria to get a temporary use permit. Now you can only get one through being issued a rebuild permit.
According to the town's Code Enforcement Division, this affects 78 sites in Paradise.
In an email, Community Development Director of Planning and Wastewater Susan Hartman said a number of those properties were inhabited by people who were not displaced by the fire, and do not live on the land.
