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Warren County denies rezoning request for Webb’s RV Park after neighbors’ concerns
Summary
The Warren County Board of Supervisors denied a request to rezone land owned by Dale and Linda Webb from A-1 agricultural to C-2 commercial for an RV park after neighbors cited safety, septic and property-value concerns and the zoning commission recommended denial.
The Warren County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to deny a rezoning request that would have changed a parcel owned by Dale and Linda Webb from A-1 agricultural district to C-2 general commercial highway service district for use as an RV park.
The public hearing drew more than a dozen neighbors and other speakers. County zoning staffperson Becky summarized the application and local reviews, telling the board that the applicants originally applied for 15 to 20 RV spots but later said they would limit the development to 14 sites so the county could permit septic systems without Iowa DNR involvement. Becky said the county can permit septic for up to 15 RV spots and that any more would require DNR permitting.
Attorney Robert Stuyvesant represented Webb’s RV Park LLC at the hearing and described the current proposal as 14 pads without a bathhouse. He told the board: “We are proposing 14 units as opposed to the 15 to 20 that was originally discussed at the zoning board. … We are not intending to put in a bathhouse or anything of that nature.”
Neighbors who live adjacent to the property raised multiple concerns, including potential traffic and safety at the site entrance on a hill and curve, noise and loss of rural character, declines in property values, trespassing and the possibility the site could expand beyond the initially proposed footprint. Several residents said the applicant had already altered the site and built a larger pond and that neighbors had experienced unpermitted grading and dumping. One resident cited sheriff’s office records from a previous Webb campground showing multiple calls to that earlier site.
Supporters of the Webb proposal — including members of the VFW — said the owners had pledged to provide free sites to veterans and that a veterans’ memorial and other amenities were planned. A VFW representative said the organization had pledged support for a Wounded Warriors memorial and that Webb had promised free sites for veterans.
Planning staff noted the Warren County Zoning Commission voted 3–0 to recommend denial of the rezoning. Board members repeatedly said an agricultural parcel could allow a private campground under a special-use permit and that the applicants might have pursued that route instead of applying for a blanket rezoning to C-2, which would permit any C-2 use at the site.
After discussion, a supervisor moved to deny the rezoning request; the motion passed by roll call. The board recorded the motion as denied. Supervisors referenced the lack of a site plan in the application, the specter of “spot zoning” (introducing a commercial parcel surrounded by agricultural zoning), and the zoning commission’s unanimous recommendation against approval.
What the decision does and does not do: the board’s action denied the change of zoning; it did not award or deny any special-use permits and does not by itself prevent other uses that are allowable under A-1 agricultural zoning with appropriate approvals. The denial stops the applicant from converting the parcel to C-2 commercial zoning at this time.
Next steps: the applicants may pursue a special-use permit for a private campground, revise their application with a detailed site plan and return to the planning commission and the board, or appeal the denial as provided under county procedures.
