Richland County committee delays campground rezoning after neighbor concerns, sends case to board of adjustments

The Richland County Natural Resources Committee delayed action Thursday on a request to rezone a 4-acre parcel to ag-residential so the owner could add a small campground, and voted to refer the proposal to the county Board of Adjustments for review.

The petitioner, Afton McKenzie, told the committee she had been working with the township and engineers on site plans and said the campground would be “a nice quiet remote campground” with conditions and a trial period, adding that “I’m open to, you know, all conditions and trial periods so that everybody can be happy and see that I really believe that this can work.”

Committee members and neighbors pressed procedural and substantive questions: county zoning requires a 5-acre minimum for the ag-residential designation the petitioner sought, and township approvals and a lot-size variance had already been discussed locally. Several neighbors said they had been contacted but expressed concerns about noise, animals and long-term density if the campground expands. One neighbor, Joe Winston, told the committee, “we have no objections,” while other neighbors said previous issues with barking dogs and uncertainty about township notice raised concerns.

Staff said the township approved a variance and a one-year conditional use permit at its recent meeting, but the county still must review a variance to the lot-size minimum before approving the rezone. Committee members noted the county’s ag-residential minimum is 5 acres and that other regulations (some permitting campgrounds on smaller parcels under different codes) complicate the review. The committee heard that the proposal will also require a conditional use permit for the campground itself, which must return to the committee after the Board of Adjustments acts on the variance.

McKenzie provided an aerial and a site schematic and told the committee the campground would not be visible from the road or adjacent properties. Neighbors asked about notification and minutes from the township meeting; staff said the township minutes had not yet been posted and that some neighbors said they were not aware of the most recent township meeting.

Following discussion the committee member who had moved approval withdrew that motion and the committee instead voted to delay county action until after the Board of Adjustments reviews the lot-size variance. The motion to delay passed on a voice vote.

The committee’s delay means the rezone remains unresolved; the petitioner will return after the Board of Adjustments decision and any required conditional-use review.

Details recorded at the meeting show the township approved a variance and a one-year conditional use permit for the campground and that the county still needs to act on a lot-size variance and the subsequent CUP for campground operation.