Buying property and leaving trailer there.

[crfingnutz]

A friend of my fathers had a couple acres with a small travel trailer that they used as a hunting camp, I have great memories from the trips there and am now looking to do this for my family. Is this still doable? Are there any members here who have this kind of setup, are there permits involved? I'm not looking to get involved with electric and and septic, just want a simple little "weekend getaway" where I can leave my camper trailer and go to on occasional weekends and during hunting season.

Thank you for any help or advice you can offer

[burmjohn]

Every town has their own laws, rules, regulations, so that should be your first place to check. 

[hunter]

Most places will let you leave a trailer for camping without utilities. You probably will need an outhouse or compost toilet in a shed. Taking the trailer to dump will get old.

[nyslowhand]

Granted, some towns may have stricter laws, but common sense says it's a camping trailer on wheels so it isn't subject to all the codes a permanent structure would have on it. If it's a motorized RV, may get into differing junk or unlicensed vehicle ordnances per your town regs. When I bought my property I had the same initial thoughs as you have. By the time I shopped around for a used camper within my budget, they were all fixer-uppers with additional ongoing maintenance costs. What I found was I could build or buy a super-sized shed (12'x24') on skids for about the same initial cost with much less ongoing expenses. All I needed was proof (photos) it wasn't permanent, the proper property line set-backs, a building permit & a small added assesment increase for the non-permanent outbuilding. Again, this was per my town's regs.

 

Shouldn't come up, but if you get into a discussion about sanitation with town officials, do NOT mention the word "outhouse".

Edited October 9, 2014 by nyslowhand

[hondamx32]

If its a camper on wheels your planning on using I would be on the don't ask don't tell policy and just do it

[hondamx32]

Maybe not the best advice in the world but that's what I would do haha

[jrm]

One other thing to check is deed restrictions. While not very common for the situation you describe, they do exist. Deed restrictions apply to a individual property and can prohibit or limit things like trailers (or even hunting).

 

[G-Man]

very do able if you not in some land group management that restricts you. dont try and hide it leave in visable area (lock your hitch) and dont put chain up on driveway (says i'm not here) have a neighbor check on it from time to time, and drive in and out leaving tracks in snow..and boot prints around.

[HectorBuckBuster]

I agree check on the deed restrictions and then if there is local zoning.

[sweet old bill]

I had this type setup in the town of North Pharsalia NY, it border on 7500 acres of state woods. I then at my retirement built my retirement home. Never had a issue with the travel trailer, had electric to it, nothing else. No break in over the years and or any other problems..

 

when I added the town wanted to change the tax type, as I also enclosed the bottom of the travel trailer with 4 by 8 ft sheets to keep the trailer warmer in the winter months as I used it for both deer and rabbit hunting. Also they said electric changed the tax requirement. I found that this was not a issue as I took photo's to show the electric was just a plug in and also trailer still had wheels and could be moved.

[crfingnutz]

Thank you all for your help. I am close to closing the deal on a parcel near Doyle Rd. in Hankock. Some of the deed restrictions I have come across are crazy. I don't want much, I already have the trailer just looking for that perfect place to leave it.

Edited October 12, 2014 by crfingnutz

[Mustang51js]

A lot of the places I saw say you can leave a trailer for 6 months unless you build a canopy over it. It's basically so people don't leave a trailer for a long time and looks run down. I have same thing but I'm there every couple weeks to clean up but you can't see from the road anyways

[Fantail]

I have my camper on the property, been there for a while now. It's on jack stands tires off the ground all leveled. There going back on next year because I want to turn it around. No utilities, but I do have about 400 watt solar array enough for refrigeration, lights, charging power tools etc. It's not an overly expensive set-up. I mean if a tree fell on the trailer that would suck but a few grand and I'd be back up and running. My closest neighbor has a small cabin on his jazz, we each have about 50 acres, but his taxes are about 40% higher.

[sweet old bill]

so did you get the land ????

[greensider]

in this case i agree with the dont ask for trouble plan just do it it is not a permanent building