Developer seeks special-use permit for Iverson Ranch employee housing, RV park; Board of Adjustment hearing set for Aug. 6

A developer seeking employee housing at Iverson Ranch told the Gerlock Empire Citizens Advisory Board that it will apply for a special-use permit (SUP) to use a development-code amendment that allows denser housing than the property’s default one-unit-per-40-acres limit.

Mike Snellgrove, who led the presentation, said the immediate request is to permit a 25–30 slip RV park to provide near-term housing for employees while longer-term structures are planned. “We’re now in the position where we actually have to apply for that SUP,” Snellgrove said, adding the county counts each RV slip as a dwelling unit. Under that definition, the project could amount to about 44 county-defined units once team houses and duplexes are included.

The project team said an earlier hydrology study required to map the site found the originally proposed RV location could be inundated “about four to six inches” in a 100-year flood scenario, so the RV park was resited uphill. Snellgrove emphasized the SUP application is a planning-stage step and that the presentation described “what we might possibly do” rather than binding commitments.

Board members pressed the presenters on infrastructure. In response, Snellgrove said septic systems shown on the plans will be commercial-scale and reviewed by the state, a higher-capacity well permit has been pulled to support domestic supply, and power would come from a large solar array with generator backup. On fire protection, the team described plans for hydrants, limited sprinklers where required and what Snellgrove described as a draft 65,000-gallon above-ground fire tank to help meet response needs; he said final fire-flow numbers are in a draft fire study that will be submitted with permitting materials.

The project would also require grading work, a widened access road and a bridge over Ives Creek to meet fire-access standards and to address estimated 100-year flood conditions; those elements trigger a separate grading SUP, the presenters said. The team plans to bundle the grading SUP and parking/landscaping modifications with the SUP application.

Snellgrove said permitting delays have slowed progress but that the Board of Adjustment is scheduled to hear the SUP on Aug. 6; he said that hearing should be the final decision unless protests prompt further action. “We are trying to build an RV park in the next six months,” he said, while cautioning that the slides presented represent a conceptual, comprehensive plan the county asked to see.

What happens next: the developer will submit the SUP application and supporting studies (hydrology, fire, septic) for the county’s technical review, and the matter will go to the Board of Adjustment on Aug. 6. Residents can review materials and submit feedback through the county’s community input portal, presenters noted.