Deer Creek motor-coach resort asks Grayson County to help resolve setback noncompliance

Owners and representatives of Deer Creek Motor Coach Resort told the Grayson County Planning Commission that the resort’s interior lots and small cabins do not meet newly enforced setback requirements and asked the county to help find a legal remedy.

Terry Carter, a property owner at Deer Creek, told the commission, “we, the property owners of Deer Creek Parkview Resort are not in compliance with law.” Chris Garker, president of the Deer Creek Motor Coach Resort Homeowners Association, described the resort as a nine‑acre development at 2524 Edmonds Road with 68 individually owned recreational lots, small companion cabins and a private sewage-treatment plant certified by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

The homeowners said the resort was developed over about 15 years with structures built close to interior lot lines; they said the county’s building department recently told owners that new construction must meet 10‑ to 15‑foot setbacks. Garker said that one structure was halted during inspection, then permitted and passed final inspection despite sitting “only 3 feet from the lot line,” which reinforced owners’ belief that past practice did not require the larger setbacks.

A county staff member told the commission that a blanket variance would be unlawful: “You cannot do a blanket variance. It's illegal. So each owner would have to come to the board of zoning appeals for every lot every time they wanted to do something.” Staff discussed other options including vacating and resurveying the plat or a boundary‑line adjustment; staff said any vacating of a plat would require review by the Planning Commission and approval by the Board of Supervisors.

Commission discussion addressed options for resolving encroachments on exterior lot lines, the possibility of individual variances through the Board of Zoning Appeals, and negotiating boundary adjustments with an adjoining landowner. Commissioners expressed support for seeking a practical resolution: one commissioner asked for staff to continue working with the resort representatives to find a legal, practical fix.

The commission voted to direct planning staff to work with Deer Creek representatives to develop a solution; the motion carried on a recorded vote with Commissioners Boyer, Funk, Jones, Sharp and Hatch recorded as voting yes.

The homeowners asked the commission to move quickly, saying the resort pumps money into the local economy and that the uncertainty was harming lot sales and future development. The commission did not adopt any ordinance change at the meeting; staff were directed to continue discussions and report back to the commission.