City commission declines to move forward with ordinance to allow RV parks in residential zones

The Goodland City Commission on a motion declined to approve ordinance 18-14, a proposed text amendment that would have added RV parks as a conditional use in two residential zoning districts.

City Manager Kent, who presented the item, said the planning commission held a public hearing and then unanimously recommended the city commission not approve the text amendment. Kent summarized the planning commission's analysis, saying that the commission identified multiple problems with the proposal: "they basically identified 8 of the 16 criteria as issues or problematic in a residential zone," including lot-size minimums, 30-foot setbacks, and utility capacity concerns.

Commission discussion emphasized deference to the planning commission's technical review. The mayor and several commissioners said they preferred to follow the planning commission's recommendation rather than send the ordinance back for further study. The mayor moved to not approve ordinance 18-14; commissioners discussed procedural options for overriding or returning the recommendation but no motion to approve gained support and the ordinance did not advance.

The discussion covered how current enforcement would apply to residential lots that already host RVs and whether property owners could seek variances; staff said existing noncompliant sites would be expected to follow the code going forward unless and until a variance or different staff direction is approved. Kent also explained that the proposed changes had been prompted by requests from commercial RV park owners and that the planning commission concluded that changing conditions warranted consideration (criterion c) but that criteria assessing consistency with the regulations (criteria a and b) raised unresolved concerns.

Next steps: the ordinance did not pass; the commission indicated it will rely on existing code and individual variance processes for properties that seek relief.