Charlotte County allowing temporary RVs and mobile homes after Hurricane Helene

With so much devastation over the last two years, from Hurricane Ian to Hurricane Helene, Charlotte County will allow people to live in an RV or mobile home on their property for the next three years.

The extension will last until Sept. 23, 2027, and applies if your home was damaged and declared uninhabitable after Hurricane Helene.

Only people who live in the damaged home can live in the temporary RV or mobile home.

Code requirements and ordinances must be followed, or the county will take action, as it has in the past.

After Hurricane Ian, some people, like Gary Shallow and his family, tried to live in temporary homes on their property.

The Shallows started living in a bus on property they bought in Charlotte County after losing their home to the storm.

The problem was the ordinance wouldn’t allow them to get power and sewer for a vacant lot without a home being built on the property.

After multiple warnings and violations, abatement contractors, ordered by the county, removed their bus from the property.

WINK News spoke with Shallow in November when the contractors removed his temporary home.

“This is something that’s been going on since the hurricane,” Shallow said. “It’s been fifteen months for us. We’re still disabled. We’re still displaced. We’re still in the same storm. We’re still from the same state of emergency. We’re still homeless.”

To obtain a permit to set a temporary mobile home, visit the Community Development Department at 18400 Murdock Circle, Port Charlotte, to fill out necessary paperwork and provide plans.

Click here to register a temporary RV and to review qualifications and other regulations.