WalMart No Parking

[gus]

This was just recently gone through on the other board so I thought it might be of interest here also;

This is my updated No Parking List including the ones from you guys;

Casa Grande, AZ
Flagstaff, AZ
Yuma, AZ
Crescent City,CA
Gilroy, CA
Redding, CA
Grant's Pass, OR

I don't expect to hear from Gilroy since they had a big fire recently.

I don't know about the rest of you but these towns won't be getting any of my tourist dollars.

Last year I had read that these two places don't allow WM parking but they sent me emails saying parking is allowed.

Missoula, MT
Billings, MT

We're leaving Tue on a 3500mi trip to the east coast so I'll probably have a bunch more towns to add to my list when we return!

Feel free to add to this list or contradict it.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Gus,

I just read a thread on RV.net that WalMart will be getting into the RV busisness.

Seems they have signed a deal with a Japenese Mfg. to provide them with complete Travel Trailers for Retail.

They will be utilizing their parking lots for this. Wal Mart will have a return policy as with anything they sell.....

Nick-

[JackConrad]

Seems in Florida that the Walmarts that do not allow parking are mostly due to city/county ordinances and are usually in high tourist areas like Orlando and high income areas like West Palm Beach and Naples.  Jack

[luvrbus]

Guy's when in AZ and need a place to spend the night here  there is other places in Flagstaff  with out using WM you have Little America truck stop and another I forgot the name of.And in Casa Grande you have a Loves and a few miles east there is Flying J ,Pilot and others, in Yuma you can spend the night at Loves,Carcker Barrel or the casino plenty of places. Arizona is a very friendly RV state we even give 9 cents a gallon off the price of fuel here for Rvs

[Sean]

I read this thread on BNO as well, and I'd like to suggest that this is not a good place to keep this information.  First off, you are off by an order of magnitude:  there are literally hundreds of Wal-Marts that do not allow overnight parking.  As has been noted already, it is usually due to local ordinance, but sometimes it has to do with other factors, such as:

• Wal-Mart does not own that particular building and/or parking lot, and must bow to the wishes of their landlord.
• The parking lot itself is not suitable for heavy and/or oversize vehicles.
• They have had a problem with some RV's in the past.

Neither Wal-Mart nor the municipality is to blame for any of these reasons.  In fact, vis. the last item on my list, we have no one to fault but ourselves -- I have written about this more than once in my blog.  Search on the term "etiquette."

In any case, there are already several web sites dedicated to Wal-Mart parking (or "No Parking" as the case may be), and duplicating that effort here means one more place to check.  Two, actually, considering this thread is now on two boards.  Instead, why not submit your findings to the sites already dedicated to the purpose?

http://www.freecampgrounds.com/walmart_nocamping.aspx
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/walmartrving
http://rvunfriendly.com/

... Arizona is a very friendly RV state we even give 9 cents a gallon off the price of fuel here for Rvs

This bears correcting -- I don't want to see anyone on this list caught by the tax man.

The discount of which you speak applies as versus what trucks pay (car diesel is the same price as "RV" diesel).  Also, note that you are not eligible for this discount, even in an RV, if your GVW is over 26,000 lbs OR if you have more than two axles.

I'm disqualified on both counts, and I'm betting a fair number of people on this board are disqualified on one or the other, if not both.

Also, the discount, if you qualify for it, is $0.08, not $0.09 as you stated ($0.26 per gallon, versus $0.18 per gallon).  BTW, if you don't qualify, you are forbidden to use the pumps that only charge the lower amount (such as found in consumer gas stations and at the car and RV islands at, say, Flying-J) -- there are stickers right on the pumps alerting you to this fact.  However, if you fuel at a truck island, which includes the extra tax in the pump prices, but you do qualify for the discount, simply go in to the fuel desk and they will deduct it from your total.

The statute is here: http://www.azdot.gov/mvd/FuelTaxEvasion/AZFuelTaxRates.asp

-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com

[bobofthenorth]

And if you happen to be fueling in Montana be VERY careful because they sell red dyed (off road) fuel on the same islands that they sell truck fuel.  And sometimes they have little teensy tiny signs telling you about this practice which you might not notice until after you had pumped --- oh, let's say $150 worth of diesel.  And then if you were to foolishly do such a thing you would sweat all the way to wherever you happened to be going that day and for several weeks afterward.  And you would probably under no circumstances mention it to mama.

This is serious thread drift though so, just to bring it back on track, you could stay in WalMart that night if you happened to be near one of the camp WallyMarts that allowed that which, as Sean has already pointed out, are very capably documented in several places and certainly don't need any additional lists to be started.

[gus]

Sean,

Nowhere did I say this is a complete list nor did I intend it to replace any other dedicated sites. All I am attempting to do is pass on some of my personal experiences to fellow bus nuts.

So far you are the only person to object to this information. Sorry if it offends you.

Maybe they exist but I've never seen a sign that says WM prohibits parking, they all note a city ordinance that prohibits overnight parking even when sometimes the ordinance doesn't say that.

I submit that WM has never banned parking because of the conduct of some RVers unless you know of such an instance. It would be very bad press for them to do so. They can always ask anyone, RVer or not, to leave the parking lot.

The blame, if there is any, is usually because of a misstatement by WM of the city ordinance - intentionally or not. I discovered this in a number of email exchanges with city officials. In other cases local RV park owners have succeeded in getting ordinances passed. One WM dept manager told me this the next morning after I had parked overnight (There was no sign at our entrance). He told me the city wasn't enforcing the ordinance and after his speech, smiled and told me we were welcome.

Part of his speech was the fact that two-thirds of WMs nation wide allow overnight parking.

I seriously doubt that any of these ordinances have anything to do with RVers conduct, but, again, you may have better information. I would never lay this blame at the feet of RVers unless I had plenty of proof.

RV etiquette is not only a problem at WM, it is universal and RV parks are probably worse than WM parking lots. I've personally only seen this at WM one time, at Wenatchee, WA, when two RVs let a bunch of kids go wild in the parking lot.

The smallest WM parking lot I ever got into was at Riverside, CA. It was a very old, small store and I wished I hadn't gone into it but once in there was no point in leaving. Ironically, parking was permitted and there was plenty of space available!

If any WM lot is full or nearly so we just move on.

Good luck on your etiquette crusade.

[HighTechRedneck]

In the Chattanooga, TN area overnight RV parking is allowed at all but two of the Wal-Marts.  The one on Gunbarrel Rd. is across the street from the Hamilton Place Mall. It has a huge parking lot, and it used to be allowed.  But I believe it probably falls in the category of the landlord didn't like it.  I believe that land is owned by CBL, the owners of the mall.

The other one is the new Wal-Mart out in Collegedale.  I suspect that one is city ordinance.

[luvrbus]

Sean,you are right about the.$ 08 a gallon when I first moved here it $.11 per gallon and soon it will be $.05 if Janet has her way and if Arizona enforced the law from Sept to May half of Canada would be in jail here and a fuel stop does not have to give the $.08 back to you that is their option.  FWIW if I buy something with no sales tax I am required by law to report the sales tax on my state taxes, how many people are doing that.  This state is becoming a small Calf. fast

[Sean]

So far you are the only person to object to this information. Sorry if it offends you.

Hold your horses, Gus.  I did not say I was "offended",  so please don't put either words in my mouth or intentions in my head.  I merely pointed you, and everyone else, to some pre-existing resources on the net for this, and suggested that we all not start yet another list to do the same thing right here.  There are, in fact, people reading this thread who may not know that.

Maybe they exist but I've never seen a sign that says WM prohibits parking, they all note a city ordinance that prohibits overnight parking even when sometimes the ordinance doesn't say that.

I submit that you have not stayed at (or attempted to stay at, as the case may be) nearly as many Wal-Marts as have I.  And I can assure you that there are stores with signs (and policies) that do not reference city ordinance.

I submit that WM has never banned parking because of the conduct of some RVers unless you know of such an instance. It would be very bad press for them to do so. They can always ask anyone, RVer or not, to leave the parking lot.

You are unequivocally wrong on this count.  I personally know of at least one Wal-Mart that prohibited all overnight stays after a group of RVers overstayed their welcome and trashed the place:

Discovered late on a rainy night [during the week before Christmas] that the
Coos Bay, OR, Wal-Mart has decided to stop letting RVs park overnight because of
a rowdy party a few months back. Customer service tells us that the naughty
RVers stayed a week, left trash everywhere and partied too loud.


(Quoted from a post on the Walmart RVing Yahoo Group, since you'd otherwise need a membership to read it.)

We had to stay elsewhere: http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/01/coos-bay-at-last.html

I have been to several stores, Wal-Mart and otherwise, where it was clear to me, upon asking, that an affirmative answer was not a foregone conclusion, and I've had store managers tell me that they have concerns due to abuses in the past.

...
I seriously doubt that any of these ordinances have anything to do with RVers conduct, but, again, you may have better information. I would never lay this blame at the feet of RVers unless I had plenty of proof.

I have plenty of proof:

http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/04/camp-wal-mart.html
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/03/wild-horses.html

and I can go on and on and on about what other kinds of behavior I have seen at Wal-Marts and other parking lots by completely unthinking or uncaring RVers.  That said, I do believe that most bans are enacted by governments for, IMO, poor reasons, up to and including extensive lobbying by local RV parks.  Remember that what I wrote in my original response was that MOST bans are due to ordinance, and that SOME bans have to do with other reasons, INCLUDING bad behavior on the part of RVers.

If you really, honestly don't believe that bad behavior has caused any bans to be enacted, either by government, stores themselves, or landlords, then you have your head in the proverbial sand.

Most laws and regulations are enacted in response to some kind of problem, real or perceived.  The RV parking problem will only get worse, not better -- laws about this are seldom overturned once they are on the books.

It does happen.  Billings, MT is one of the towns you mentioned.  They did, in fact, have such an ordinance, and it was enforced.  The local KOA was largely responsible for the lobbying to get this enacted, and it's probably no coincidence that KOA corporate HQ is in Billings (this is one of the reasons, BTW, why we avoid KOA whenever possible).  But massive lobbying by RVers, including the FMCA and several other organizations, with the support of Wal-Mart, got the ban suspended, with a set of "rules" now in place for overnight stays in Billings.

But before you go around inciting people to boycott anyplace that does not allow overnight stays in Wal-Mart, folks need to understand that there are sometimes good reasons for it.  Sometimes the reasons are poor, and a boycott may be appropriate (although they are generally ineffective), but you can't tell just by a sign.

FWIW.

-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com

[gus]

Sean,

I didn't say you were offended, I said I was sorry if you were because the tone of your post led me to think maybe you were. It was my inference and there was no attempt to tell you what you think.

I'm sure you have a lot more experience at this than I because I've only owned the bus three years, but I'm learning, and these posts are part of what I have learned.

I stand corrected, I know of no case personally of RVers being banned because of conduct and you know of one.

Most laws and regulations may be enacted in response to some kind of problem, real or perceived, but I doubt it. My guess is that just as many, or maybe more, are to benefit select groups.

Billings, MT changed the ordinance only grudgingly. According to the email I received from the Mayor last year overnight parking is only allowed for 10 hours!! Another poster at the time said that KOA corp hdq has moved but I don't personally know that.

I don't stay at KOA either, but for different reason, mainly because so many of them are dumps and because of all the negative posts I've read about their local management.

I don't believe I am inciting anyone except myself so please don't put either words in my mouth or intentions in my head. I clearly said, "I don't know about the rest of you but these towns won't be getting any of my tourist dollars." I didn't say "Lets all get together and boycott these towns".  I'm doing that but I have no intention of leading a mob to storm the Bastille. In fact, I was through with this string until I read your first post. Now I am through with it for sure.

I'll try to do a better job in the future of keeping my head out of the proverbial sand.

[blue_goose]

Three weeks ago I was in Cicero, NY going to spend the night in a Walmart lot to meet someone in the morning at that lot.  When I went to part there was a sign that said overnight parkers would be towed away.  I didn't stay but the next morning there were campers that didn't have any problems in the lot.  There was a tractor trailor parked next to one of the signs. I am going to try and post the sign, may not work.

[PP]

Good luck towing a 40 foot bus! Especially with irate wives aboard 

[Sean]

I didn't say you were offended, I said I was sorry if you were because the tone of your post led me to think maybe you were. It was my inference and there was no attempt to tell you what you think.

OK.  I try not to make any enemies on these boards -- but I have anyway.  I just did not want you to think that I was trying to slam you -- most of what I write is for the benefit of others following along, who may or may not have any experience at all in the topic under discussion.

Most laws and regulations may be enacted in response to some kind of problem, real or perceived, but I doubt it. My guess is that just as many, or maybe more, are to benefit select groups.

I guess I am a bit more generous.  I've sat through city council meetings more than once.  Generally, lawmakers only get off their duffs if someone is complaining.  Special interest lobbies tend to have legislation waived, not enacted, but it does happen.  When RV parks (or whoever) show up at council meetings to complain about lost business, and no one else is there to refute their statements, lawmakers usually will not go the extra distance to find out the truth.

Billings, MT changed the ordinance only grudgingly. According to the email I received from the Mayor last year overnight parking is only allowed for 10 hours!!

Yes, that's one of the "rules" I was talking about.  Still, it's a victory, compared to the status quo that preceded it.

I don't believe I am inciting anyone except myself so please don't put either words in my mouth or intentions in my head.

Touché, and fair enough.  My apologies.

... In fact, I was through with this string until I read your first post. Now I am through with it for sure.

And again, my comments were primarily directed at the world at large, suggesting that this thread not become a general discussion of what Wal-Marts do not allow parking.  But, alas, it has anyway.  So again, I would suggest to everyone that any new "finds" regarding Wal-Marts that do not allow parking be submitted to the various web sites (which I referenced earlier) that exist to track this sort of thing.  This is definitely not a bus-conversion-specific issue -- it applies to all RVs equally.


-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com

[HighTechRedneck]

Good luck towing a 40 foot bus! Especially with irate wives aboard 

Some can.  But in any case, who has to live with the angry wife after the 2am rap on the door by a night shift police officer with an attitude gets her into a bad mood?  Between having to wake up from sleep and deal with the officer, having to deal with the aforementioned irate wife, and having to move on unexpectedly, the odds your your sleep is shot.  When you find signs like that, it is best not to tempt fate, keep going.