The ordinance was approved months after July 4 flooding killed more than 40 people at another RV park along the Guadalupe River.
INGRAM, Texas — Six months after catastrophic flooding killed dozens of people in Kerr County, Ingram city leaders are facing legal pushback over a new ordinance that bans RV parks from floodways.
The ban was passed narrowly by the Ingram City Council in November following the July 4 floods, which devastated parts of the city and claimed more than 40 lives at HTR Texas Hill Country RV Park along Riverview Road.
But Clancy Scott, the owner of Riverside RV Park, says the ordinance goes too far and unfairly targets his business, which he says safely evacuated residents as the floodwaters arrived.
Riverside RV Park has operated for about 40 years along Old Ingram Loop, roughly 30 feet from the Guadalupe River. Scott said when floodwaters began rising early on July 4, residents were alerted and evacuated without injuries or loss of life.
“When we first got notice that the water was coming up, we got everyone, everyone out of the park, completely evacuated,” Scott said.
Scott argues that the city’s decision to ban RV parks from floodways is an attempt to force him to sell his property. Last week, he filed an intent to sue the city.
“We survived the flood, we thought everything was great and then here we get this notice from the city,” Scott said.
The ordinance change was recommended by Ingram Code Enforcement Officer Stuart Gross. Gross initially agreed to an interview but declined further comment after learning of the potential legal action. During a phone conversation earlier in the week, Gross said the ordinance was intended to save lives and that he believes RV parks in floodways are not reasonably safe. He also said he witnessed people being swept away by floodwaters at HTR during the July 4 flooding.
However, Scott said he never has allowed RVs to be right up against the river and that his park experienced no injuries, no washed-away RVs, and no loss of life.
“We had no RVs wash down the river, we had no injuries, we had no one hurt, no pets, no losses like that,” Scott said.
Since the flood, Scott said 12 families have returned to Riverside RV Park as long-term residents, including Jean Brown, who has lived there for seven years.
“I like this place, and so this is where I want to be,” Brown said.
Scott said that while he and his wife could financially survive if the park were forced to close, many of the residents could not.
“We can afford if this place is closed. We’re going to survive, my wife and I,” Scott said. “But some of these folks, this is it.”
City leaders have not publicly said when the RV park ban would take effect. HTR Texas Hill Country RV Park has remained closed since the deadly flooding. Attempts to reach HTR for comment have not been returned.
Scott said he plans to continue fighting the ordinance until the city provides further explanation.
“We’re not going to stop until this ordinance and the city explains themselves,” he said.