Montrose County Planning Commission recommends denial of Ranger Ranch Campground special‑use permit

The Montrose County Planning Commission voted unanimously at its July 2025 meeting to recommend denial of the Ranger Ranch Campground special‑use permit, SU22‑003, citing concerns about road safety, emergency access and the proposal’s proximity to a private airstrip.

A staff review referenced the project’s 2022 review and a subsequent re‑review by public works. Staff said a requested public‑works memo had been delayed because staff were handling recent fires but that the department’s prior concerns remained. The applicant provided a traffic study; the traffic engineer recommended no road improvements based on trip generation for the proposed campground and existing homes.

Commission members pressed on several safety points. One committee member moved to recommend denial “based on the safe distribution, not only with 6,300 road, but the ability to have secondary egress/ingress” and the proximity to the private airstrip, and argued that locating a campground so close to the runway raised safety questions. The chair repeatedly raised the prospect that campsite trash or camping gear could be blown onto the runway and asked whether the applicant had considered controls and setbacks shown in earlier materials.

Applicant Tanya Newman defended the proposal and said she had spoken with a Bureau of Land Management contact who provided a map showing certain brown‑lined roads “open to all modes of transportation” and told her those routes could be used in emergency situations. Newman also said the local fire district inspected the site and expressed no concerns about the proposed fire pits. On water, she said Chapita Water District could provide a 3/4‑inch residential tap and that the district had capacity and could provide a larger tap if needed.

Commissioners expressed unsettlement over two technical discrepancies: the latest site diagram omitted a 150‑foot setback from the airstrip that appeared on earlier materials, and staff and the applicant reported differing information about whether nearby BLM trails are legally available for vehicular emergency use. Road & Bridge guidance from 2022, cited by staff, described 6300 Road as substandard, and members said adding new trips on a substandard road heightened safety concerns.

After further discussion the commission’s motion to recommend denial (moved by a committee member and seconded) passed unanimously. The Planning Commission will forward its unfavorable recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners; staff indicated the commissioners are scheduled to hear the project on Aug. 20, 2025.

The record before the commission included the applicant’s traffic study and BLM materials supplied by the applicant, a public‑works review referencing the 2022 Road & Bridge letter, and staff reports; the commission signaled it may continue the matter if the BLM‑access discrepancy cannot be reconciled.