WINCHESTER BAY — The Winchester Bay Sanitary District board will wait one more month to decide whether to hike fees affecting RVs and mobile homes.

Board members tabled Ordinance 5-2009-O last week for the second month in a row, after they were unable to agree on rates.

RV park owners currently pay $24 a year for each space in their parks. West Yost Associates came up with that rate, which is based on historic peak usage days — typically mid-summer, said sanitary district manager Ray Davenport.

The district added language to the ordinance that defines an RV as a “dwelling unit,” if that RV occupies a space at an RV park for 90 days or more. That means the district could charge $70 for RVs parked for 90 or more days.

Several RV park owners — and residents — protested the proposed ordinance.

“I can tell you right now, I have the resources to fight this and I will,” Salmon Harbor RV Park owner Frank Frati told the board Thursday.

Board member Debbie Ludwig maintained that the district should charge all long-term residents the same fee, whether they live in a house or an RV. She said RV park owners should be responsible for any increased sewer use.

“I want to discourage them from using it as a mobile home park,” she said.

Other board and audience members argued that any long-term RV park customers already are paying enough. RV parks are charged for peak usage  year-round.

“What the hell does a 90-day RV got to do with anything? We’re already paying peak,” Frati said.

Board Chairwoman Cindy Simmons said the sanitary district may be overstepping its bounds by trying to define what is and is not a mobile home.

“This is the wrong board,” Simmons said. “You can take that up with the planning department.”

The board agreed the district should define mobile homes, but will wait to find out what, if any, criteria can be used.

Some questioned whether additions such as a porch or room, called a “tip-out,” should be considered.

The board also will have to hear from Davenport how billing for mobile homes, if approved, would be enforced.

Board member Jackie Reger, who owns Fisherman’s RV Park and said she would not vote on the ordinance because of a conflict of interest, said the district should charge a residence as a mobile home if it is licensed as a mobile home.

“I think we need to lay out ... definitions,” Simmons said.