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Commissioners call for zoning text amendment after discussion of temporary workforce RV sites
Summary
The board discussed an existing temporary workforce RV site and asked county planning staff to draft a zoning text amendment with standards for employer-provided, short-term worker sites rather than allowing ad hoc long-term RV occupancy.
Commissioners discussed a recent case involving a temporary workforce RV site and acknowledged Madison County currently has no written temporary short-stay workforce RV policy beyond a de facto allowance for a single RV up to 14 consecutive days. County staff noted that multiple trailers or long-term occupation can place the county in enforcement and magistrate proceedings because zoning and permitting do not currently address employer-run temporary worker camps.
Commissioner Kirk and others urged caution. "We need to get all of these issues in writing," a commissioner said, arguing that the county should not set precedent by tolerating site arrangements without clear standards. Staff observed a text amendment to the zoning ordinance would be the mechanism to add a workforce RV provision, likely limited to business or industrial zoning districts and accompanied by requirements on company documentation (job description, length of stay, site plan, utilities, restroom/waste arrangements and limits on number of units).
The magistrate had postponed enforcement in hopes county planning could propose standards. Commissioners directed planning staff to research model ordinances and present options — including examples the planner located from Lincoln County and other jurisdictions — and to return recommendations for a new text amendment and enforcement path. No zoning changes were adopted at the meeting.
