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Walmart "permit to park"
Yahoo Message Number: 137027
A week ago, we stopped for the night at the Payson, AZ, Walmart Supercenter. A sign on a light pole indicated we needed a permit to park overnight. I went in for the permit about 6 pm, was told it was good for 10 hours, but the lady postdated it a few hours so I wouldn't have to come back in at 9 pm to stay till 7 am the next morning. The lady said they were doing it when she began working there, and did not know the reason for it.
 That was the first time we've run into a permit at a Walmart, or even heard of their use. No problems, and no one bothered us.

Eric Greenwell
2005 Jayco 24SS
Re: Walmart "permit to park"
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 137032
We never call it "camping", because that gives non-RV people the wrong idea; instead, we call "parking overnight".
 Our experience is it's rarely prohibited, and even where there are signs saying it's prohibited, it may be tolerated. We've stayed at a couple WM with "prohibited" signs, but when asking at the WM info desk, we were told "the city made us put them up - we don't care". It does depend on where you travel. Walmarts near major tourist attractions are more likely to have "prohibited" signs, we've found. One coastal Walmart we pulled into, the security jitney with the flashing yellow light came over and told us the city was totally nuts about RV's parking overnight, but if we drove inland 3 miles, it was OK at that Walmart.
 Our favorite Walmart story was the one somewhere in the south: when we got up in the morning, there was a newspaper laying beside the motorhome, with a note inside the plastic bag, "I had an extra"!

Eric Greenwell
2005 Jayco 24SS
Walmart camping
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 137036
Eric Greenwell @ "One coastal Walmart we pulled into, the security jitney with the flashing yellow light came over and told us the city was totally nuts about RV's parking overnight."
 Was that east or west coast? We live by a Calif state beach, and each day there are dozens of "bandit" RVs parked in the various lots via access with their annual day use passes. ($175/yr for under 25' - useable @ any Calif state park/beach. They're awesome - we re-up without fail each year.)
 But, when the beach closes @ night (8pm in winter, 10pm in summer), the 'campers' head on out to the various arterial streets, shopping centers, etc in order to park & spend the night. The city has ordinances posted all over prohibiting overnight parking (camping), as do the individual property owners.
 However, I don't think I've ever seen anything enforced. Since the RVs show up after dark, and are almost always gone by 6am (when the beach opens back up), there appears to be some kind of implicit agreement that keeps things in balance.
 My concern is what happens if the numbers increase? Awhile back, there seemed to be a jump, and whenever I take a walk, I can spot newcomers. Perhaps their neighbors have clued them into the proper procedure(s) to avoid conflict?
 As for RVs, the preferred rigs seem to be Class Cs. There are some massive beat up Class As, which I figure can be bought for a song, and is probably why they are being used for housing. The problem with those units is they eat up a lot of gas money just being shuttled back/forth a few miles each day.
 Anyway, I think it's an excellent economic indicator, and one I keep my eye on.
Re: Walmart camping
Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 137039
It was along the Calif coast. We did encounter the other situation you describe in San Diego in the early Spring about 6 or 7 years ago, with 7 or 8 RVs using a park in the Mission Bay area, despite it being posted against that. They explained nobody bothered them during the off season as they made great effort to be good neighbors - lots of peer pressure to be that way. Some would scatter around the area at night, but the "rule" was "one night stay per place - keep moving". All were older vehicles, but not dilapidated, and everyone we talked to seemed to be responsible, decent people.
 When the tourist season began, these folks would already be gone to some other (usually inland) place, or even travel to other parts of the country, as most were full-timers.

Eric Greenwell
2005 Jayco 24SS
Re: Walmart "permit to park"
Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 137040
About 10 years ago Escapees developed the attached "code of Conduct" for "boondocking" or dry camping. It has now been sanctioned by most of the industry. If everyone copied it and delivered a copy to the Walmart store manager, perhaps we could overcome the negativity. OF COURSE WE MUST OBEY IT.
Don & Dorothy
Sold our LD in June of 2023

Our boring always non-PC travel blog
Traveling Dorothy
Re: Walmart "permit to park"
Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 137052
I'm not sure why giving a copy to a Walmart store manager would be useful. I' bet they have their own ideas of what's acceptable on their property, so I think just following the "code" will do it for them.
 The only negativity I'm aware of is from store neighbors concerned about "transients", and from RV parks
2005 Jayco 24SS
 
Re: Walmart "permit to park"
Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 137053
Quote
A week ago, we stopped for the night at the Payson, AZ, Walmart Supercenter. A sign on a light pole indicated we needed a permit to park overnight. I went in for the permit about 6 pm, was told it was good for 10 hours, but the lady postdated it a few hours so I wouldn't have to come back in at 9 pm to stay till 7 am the next morning. The lady said they were doing it when she began working there, and did not know the reason for it.
 That was the first time we've run into a permit at a Walmart, or even heard of their use. No problems, and no one bothered us.

Eric Greenwell
http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2006/feb/14/camping_at_the/

Here's a news article from Payson, AZ dated 2/14/2013 that talks about RV parking at that Payson Walmart.  There really doesn't seem to be any opposition to it from Walmart and the Payson City Manager even comments that RV traffic is good for the economy.
 Some folks in these Rim country cities and towns in Arizona get a bit rankled by the invasion of tourists from the desert communities but they also sometimes forget that their economic base rests on tourism and not much else.
2007 IB-30