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Tubac neighbors tell supervisors county must investigate alleged illegal RV park, urge permit denial
Summary
Residents from the Bridge Road area of Tubac told the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors they believe a longtime campground operator is running an illegal RV park, dumping sewage, and should not be granted an expansion permit until she complies with existing conditions for 24 months.
Tubac residents told the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on April 1 that a property they say is operating as an expanded, noncompliant RV park has been allowed to flout permit conditions for years and risks groundwater contamination.
Bridget Pouloud, a Tubac resident, told the board she and neighbors reviewed the site owner’s 2010 conditional use permit and found multiple violations. “She rents out 11 RV sites with electric hookups and allows her guests to stay for years,” Pouloud said, and she said the site manager admitted at a recent Planning Commission meeting that campers “regularly” dump gray and black water.
The neighbors said the original permit authorized six dry campsites with a 15-day stay limit and required annual inspections; they said the last county inspection on record was 2013. The RV park sits roughly a half-mile from the Santa Cruz River, and residents told supervisors they fear long-term groundwater contamination from years of alleged dumping.
Why it matters: Neighbors urged the Board of Supervisors to refuse any expansion until the operator demonstrates 24 months of compliance and to open an investigation into past enforcement decisions. Sandra Schenkel, who described multiple past complaints to county staff, told the board she believes Planning and Zoning staff failed to follow written procedures and that staff relied on informal phone calls instead of documented notices.
What happened at the hearing: Speakers said the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission recently tabled the operator’s application for 60 days. Several neighbors told the board they had raised compliance concerns repeatedly, that enforcement citations had not been reliably served, and that county staff told them the county lacks manpower to monitor permits consistently.
Board role and next steps: Neighbors specifically asked the board to investigate the matter and return findings at a public meeting. No formal board vote or directive on the permit was recorded in the meeting minutes; the Planning Commission’s 60-day tabling of the expansion was referenced by residents but taken by the commission prior to the Board meeting.
Community context: Multiple speakers said the property has operated in alleged noncompliance for five or more years, that online listings advertise dump-site availability, and that residents have documented apparent on-site sewage hookups. The petitioners asked the board to (1) reject the expansion application, (2) issue a written citation immediately, (3) require eviction of long-term occupants, and (4) revoke the 2010 permit if the owner does not demonstrate 24 months of compliance.
No formal enforcement action by the Board of Supervisors was recorded during the April 1 meeting; the comments were submitted during the public comment period and were not debated or voted on by the board at that session.
