BOCC to hear RV park appeal
Canyon Creek runs the length of Burke Canyon, including near a spot where a conditional use permit (CUP) was issued for an RV park. A few months later it overturned following an appeal by neighboring residents. However, since the permit's rescission the owner has continued to operate the RV park illegally – prompting legal action from Shoshone County.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
WALLACE — The Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is set to preside over a public hearing this week concerning a conditional use permit that was granted for a recreational vehicle park near Burke.
It was in June 2021 that the Shoshone County Planning and Zoning Commission approved the conditional use permit (CUP) for Lisa Johnston, who had been seeking the Commission’s approval to build a multi-space RV park on some property near Burke Road.
Following the approval of the CUP, several appeals were reportedly filed, including one from Carolyn Collins and Bryan Stepro — which is what the BOCC will be hearing this week.
The hearing had been attempted in December of last year, but had to be canceled and rescheduled due to the failure of the recording equipment that is used for record keeping during the hearing.
In a letter that was written to the BOCC, Collins pointed out the ongoing rise of alternative living situations (including short-term rentals and RVs), and that she believed this issue was due to the number of available rental properties plummeting.
In this particular situation, she mentioned to the BOCC that the solution she sees as the best fit would involve requiring business licenses and then enforcing current zoning codes.
“Not much can be done for the campground situation unless they are made to move so often like the parks require,” Collins said. “Our own zoning codes can remedy some of this by simply making them (the owners of the properties) get a business license and a CUP.”
Referencing zoning codes for short-term rentals (Air BnBs, VRBO, etc…), as well as specific codes regarding RVs, Collins explained that short-term rentals require CUPs to help limit the number of people residing there, as well as how current codes regarding RVs specify that they are not supposed to be used as permanent residences — and that without those special permits, only one of them is permitted per-acre of property.
“I don’t know if we simply need a code-enforcement person, a new ordinance, or notice of a requirement of a business license, but something needs to happen,” Collins said. “In the rural area I occupy, these RVs are usually abandoned when the snow hits and the mess is left for someone else to clean up.”
Prior to the issuing of Johnston’s CUP, she was required to make several changes to her proposed model, including eliminating standalone tent spaces, and that only RVs that are completely self-contained could use one of the spaces.
The Shoshone County Planning and Zoning Commission is responsible for the administration and enforcement of County Land Use Ordinances and Codes within their jurisdiction, which includes the entirety of the county with the exception of its seven incorporated cities (Mullan, Wallace, Osburn, Kellogg, Pinehurst, Wardner and Smelterville).
The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 5 at the Shoshone County Courthouse at 10 a.m.