Columbia County workshop debates tighter rules for RV parks and campgrounds

Columbia County commissioners and staff spent a workshop session reviewing proposed revisions to the county's Land Development Regulations that would restrict where RV parks and campgrounds can be built and how they must be serviced.

The memorandum and slide presentation outlined changes including a minimum park size of 20 acres in agricultural areas, a possible 5-acre minimum for parks in commercial areas that have public water and sewer, a 50-foot vegetative setback and buffer, a move away from individual septic systems toward centralized water/sewer or package systems for park operations, and a 60-amp electrical cap for mobile/movable accommodations. County staff and the county attorney said they are drafting updated ordinance language for a future adoption hearing; no ordinance was adopted at the workshop.

Why it matters: the draft would substantially narrow where new RV parks and campgrounds can be established and would push higher-density facilities toward locations with utilities. County attorney Mr. Foreman warned commissioners that adopting the draft as written would transform the county's current, permissive environment for RV development into a much more restrictive regime. "It is my opinion that if you adopt this ordinance as presented, you will go from having an extremely permissive environment for RV parks and campgrounds to having a very restrictive environment for RV parks and campgrounds," he said.

Key proposals and staff explanation

Staff described seven principal areas of change under consideration. Current campsite lots are 1,200 square feet in the county's Land Development Regulations; the draft would (for movable accommodations) raise a proposed minimum site area to 4,500 square feet (45 feet by 100 feet) while…