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Sawyer County adopts 30% cap on camping cabins and park-model trailers in new campgrounds
Summary
After a multi-year review and town feedback, the Sawyer County Board adopted an amendment to county code that limits new licensed campgrounds to a 30% maximum of combined camping cabins and park-model trailers; the change applies to new operations and not automatically to existing campgrounds with prior conditional-use permits.
The Sawyer County Board of Supervisors voted to amend county code governing campgrounds to set a 30% cap on the combined number of camping cabins and park-model trailers for new licensed campgrounds.
Planner Jay Vogel summarized a process dating to 2016 that included town polling and two zoning-committee public hearings, and said the towns overwhelmingly supported a 30% limit. Vogel told the board the change would permit plumbing and sewer hookups for camping cabins, would align with state allowances for 400-square-foot camping cabins, and — per legal counsel — would apply only to new campground operations; campgrounds that received conditional-use permits prior to the change would remain at a 100% allowance unless their conditional-use permit specifically limited percentages.
Ron Buckholz moved to approve the amendment (seconded by Marshall Savitsky). The clerk conducted a roll-call vote: 12 members voted yes and 2 voted no; the chair announced the motion carried with two opposed.
The ordinance amendment was submitted as an option F (exhibit B) to appendix D (definitions) and sections 6.6 and 6.7 (trails and campgrounds) of the Sawyer County Code of Ordinances. Board members asked whether current campgrounds would be affected; legal counsel and Vogel clarified the revision would not affect operations that predate the adoption unless their conditional-use permit already set a percent limit.
The board’s action formalizes the towns’ preference and the zoning committee recommendation and sends the revised code language for administrative update and publication.
