The City of Ingram never technically outlawed parking RVs in a floodway. Now they are considering it.
INGRAM, Texas — The Guadalupe River in Ingram is a beautiful place to camp or take a recreational vehicle (RV). According to the Ingram City Council, there are some places, and at least one business, where those RVs can be parked very close to the river.
On July 4, city officials said, many people camping in that floodway died after being swept away. Now, Code Enforcement manager Stuart Gross is losing sleep over it.
“One of the things that we allowed, that we should never have allowed, is RVs down in the floodway,” Gross said. “It killed a lot of people. There is no denying it.”
To be clear, Gross indicated the City of Ingram was not actually encouraging the practice of having RV’s in floodways. At the same time, they didn’t prohibit it either. Previously, businesses or individuals would be free to have their own safety protocols for flooding situations.
Now Gross is proposing an ordinance change that would ban RVs in floodways.
“I know people love the river and they want to do what they want on the river,” Gross said. “For the last two months I have not slept because I still hear screaming. I take this very personal.”
After the July 4 flood, both FEMA and another state agency reviewed the city’s ordinances. On Monday, Gross told the City Council that those ordinances, overall, were “really, really good.” He had to follow that up with,” there is one glaring thing we don’t do.”
The new ordinance would prohibit recreational vehicles in the “regulatory floodway,” – that’s an important distinction. FEMA maps have a regular floodway or floodplain, then a 100-year floodplain, and then a 50-year floodplain. This ordinance would only apply to the regular floodway.
The rule might mean a financial hit to any business that would currently allow RVs in that area. Gross believes they should do it anyway.
“Go find one family of someone who died and ask what a loved one would be worth to bring them back,” Gross said.
The Ingram Mayor and City Council seeming in favor of the ordinance on Monday but multiple council members said they would like to see a presentation with the specific FEMA flood maps before making the decision. They could also tweak the wording of the ordinance.
The council decided to table the ordinance change on Monday. They will meet again on September 29.