Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Campground topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission denies commercial campground rezoning in Yucca after residents cite fire, medical and road-safety concerns
Summary
Commissioners denied a rezone for a proposed commercial campground in the Yucca/Dutch Flat area after multiple neighbors cited lack of infrastructure, wildfire risk and harm to rural character.
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted on June 11 to deny a rezoning request that would have converted a 40-acre lot in the Yucca/Dutch Flat area to a commercial-recreation (CRE) designation to allow a private campground and associated hospitality uses.
The applicant, Charles Bennett, proposed smaller platform tent sites and camping amenities and said the project would rely on private well water and septic. Commissioners denied the request following substantial public opposition from neighbors who live in and near Santa Fe Ranch and Stagecoach Trails association lands.
Why it matters: Residents said the site lacks basic emergency and medical infrastructure, the parcel is accessed by private POA roads and the location is remote — making wildfire containment and emergency response problematic.
Speakers described longstanding, unresolved on-site uses that they said had operated without permits. Paula Golightly and other neighbors told the commission the property already hosted short-term rentals and tents, and they asked the county to require the applicant to pursue a special-use permit process rather than a zoning change. “This parcel is within this neighborhood and is accessible only by the private roads maintained by the POA,” Golightly said in public comment, and she urged denial.
Other commenters raised safety concerns. Alicia Keys, a nearby resident, told commissioners there is no local fire or medical service close to the site and that increased visitation and campfires would raise wildfire risk for neighboring properties and the community. “If somebody gets hurt, then it's 25 miles or more to get to the local hospital,” she said.
Boarding the argument, opponents said the property’s location — off Alamo Road and reachable only via private association roads — makes the campground incompatible with surrounding 40‑acre residential parcels and with the Dutch Flat area plan’s node-based guidance for limited, appropriately sited commercial uses along Alamo Road.
The commission considered the public testimony and staff’s recommendation and then voted to deny the rezone application.
What the commission decided: The motion to deny passed; commissioners said the site’s remoteness, emergency-response constraints, and neighborhood opposition weighed against a map amendment to CRE.
Next steps: A denial at Planning and Zoning closes the route to a general-plan and zoning map change for the parcel; the applicant may pursue alternative avenues, such as a permit-based special-use application, or may choose to modify the proposal and reapply. Residents asked the county to enforce existing land-use and permit requirements for on-site activities that neighbors said were operating without proper authorization.
