Sanoma, Ca RV Parking

[dewilso]

My daughter is a Project Mgr for a large company. The company is wanting her to go to Sanoma, Ca for a temp assignment of about a year. We're thinking maybe to set her up with our 5th wheel, but wonder about the parking availability out there ? Anyone here have any knowledge to share ?

 

I know that the Escapees started by temporary workers in this same situation.....but it was a different time.

 

Thanks !

[Lou Schneider]

There's not much available in the town of Sonoma itself, but Napa to the east and Petaluma / Santa Rosa to the west each have several RV parks that allow monthly stays. One fly in the ointment may be CA law - if she stays in a park longer than 9 continuous months she becomes a Resident and acquires the same rights as someone renting an apartment - which means the park has to undertake a multi-month court eviction proceeding to remove a troublemaker. As a result many parks restrict continuous stays to shorter periods like 6 months - staying longer requires leaving the park and re-entering under a new rental agreement. So your daughter would need some way of towing the 5th wheel out of the park and then returning it midway through the year.

 

Will she be in the town of Sonoma or Sonoma County? The County seat is Santa Rosa and stretches from Petaluma to Cloverdale and east to the Sonoma Valley.

[dirtyboots]

Hi Dave - if you do a search, be sure to spell it this way - SONOMA

Also, I just looked and they bunch stuff together since the town of SONOMA

is in Sonoma County...and just to be aware, Lake Sonoma is no where near

the town of Sonoma. Also, one campground I found was actually in Rohnert Park,

also no where near Sonoma.

 

I lived there when it was a quiet little village (1970-71ish). And prior to that

grew up in Sonoma county, so spent lots of time on those old country roads.

When the wine industry exploded, seems every square inch of land was

turned into a vineyard, so finding a place to camp out that is close enough

to drive every day may be a real challenge.

 

You might try Glen Ellen, I saw a listing but didn't follow through and there was

one out Arnold Drive that said it was open for Raceway events, but I couldn't

get their website to open.

 

Whatever you do, be sure to have a map of the big county in front of you so

you can get past the ads and really see where/what they are talking about.

 

Good Luck!

[Kirk W]

I know that the Escapees started by temporary workers in this same situation.....but it was a different time.

There has recently been a small trend in the club to having fulltimmers who are working and earning their livelihood on the road and the new Xscapers program of Escapees is aimed at reaching out to the younger RV traveler, as the club is painfully aware of the steady increase in the average age of the membership.

[Jim Corey]

Try Napa County fairgrounds. Not that far from Town of Sonoma.

[dewilso]

Fairgrounds are limited to 14 day stay. Thanks anyway.

[Raquel]

There's not much available in the town of Sonoma itself, but Napa to the east and Petaluma / Santa Rosa to the west each have several RV parks that allow monthly stays. One fly in the ointment may be CA law - if she stays in a park longer than 9 continuous months she becomes a Resident and acquires the same rights as someone renting an apartment - which means the park has to undertake a multi-month court eviction proceeding to remove a troublemaker. As a result many parks restrict continuous stays to shorter periods like 6 months - staying longer requires leaving the park and re-entering under a new rental agreement. So your daughter would need some way of towing the 5th wheel out of the park and then returning it midway through the year.

 

 

I don't think this is absolute. The park we are currently in is allowing us to stay for 10 months on a month-to-month basis. The owner says that if someone doesn't pay their rent one month that she'll just move them out. She and her husband have owned the park for 20 years so they probably know.

[Lou Schneider]

The Occupant, Tenant and Resident definitions and eviction procedures are spelled out in the RV park section of the CA Mobilehome Residency Law starting on Page 71. The current version of the law is dated 2014, similar language has been in past versions.

 

"799.28 - “Occupant” means the owner or operator of a recreational vehicle who has occupied a lot in a park for 30 days or less." Occupants can have their RVs removed from the park with 72 hour written notice (Article 3 starting on Page 73).

 

"799.32 - "Tenant" means the owner or operator of a recreational vehicle who has occupied a lot in a park for more than 30 consecutive days." If rent is not paid within 5 days of it's due date, a park can give a tenant 3 days notice to vacate. Or 30 days notice to vacate for other reasons (Article 4 starting on Page 75)

 

"799.31 - "Resident" means a tenant who has occupied a lot in a park for 9 months or more". A park must give a Resident 60 days written notice to terminate for non-payment of rent. Other reasons to terminate require a full Court Eviction process. (Article 5 starting on Page 75)

 

I've stayed long term in 4 different RV parks in CA, each time I had to submit a rental application for their approval before I could stay under their monthly rate. Each time I had to vacate the park after 6 months so I wouldn't become a Resident. Then I was allowed to re-enter the park and stay for another 6 months under a new rental agreement - if the park didn't want me back they could have refused to issue a new agreement.

 

Apparently your park owner operates less formally than the parks I've stayed in, maybe she thinks you're a good risk or maybe she hasn't had to evict a stubborn Resident yet.