The Mendocino County Planning Commission on a unanimous roll-call vote approved a 10‑year renewal for the Wildwood Campground use permit, extending the approval period to 06/01/2034 and attaching revised conditions intended to address past health and safety issues.

Staff project planner Russ Ford presented application UR20240004, describing the 68‑acre site east of Fort Bragg with 73 campsites (45 with septic hookups) and a long permitting history dating to a 1973 approval. Ford said staff prepared a CEQA addendum to the original negative declaration and recommended approval with corrected findings and updated conditions of approval, including scheduled environmental health inspections every three years and a requirement that any existing long‑term residential units be brought into compliance with state and local regulations within one year of permit approval.

Commissioner discussion focused on preventing the campground from becoming de‑facto long‑term housing. Commissioner Jones, who said he visited the property, pressed staff and the applicant on the number of trailers per site, occupancy limits and septic‑system load. Ford said the campground is treated as a special‑occupancy park under HCD rules and that occupancy and septic‑load limits are addressed in the site’s nonstandard permit conditions.

Applicant Travis Senning, identified as the operations manager and business partner, told the commission the new ownership spent roughly $25,000 at the Willits Transfer Station over the last three years to remove abandoned trailers and debris and said the site’s septic systems are permitted. Senning provided revenue figures for transient camping (2023: $76,000; 2024: $129,000; 2025 year‑to‑date: $182,000) and said the business is focused on transient tourism rather than long‑term residency. He offered to provide permit documentation to the record; the transcript records permit numbers read aloud by Senning (transcript: “ST28912,” “ST6106” and a third permit cited in the record), though the third number is not legible in the audio transcript.

After discussion, staff proposed draft language to add condition 11f limiting each campsite to a maximum occupancy of eight individuals and one trailer or recreational vehicle, with exceptions for approved group campsites shown on the campground site map. Commissioner Jones moved to adopt the resolution, Commissioner Weideman seconded, and the motion passed with all commissioners voting yes.

The approval includes the staff‑recommended CEQA addendum and the revised conditions of approval (including the inspection schedule, the updated campground management plan filing within 90 days of approval, pet‑waste requirements, and a new one‑year compliance requirement for existing long‑term units). The commission recorded no public speakers on the item.