Platte County commission declines campground special-use permit after residents raise safety and liability worries

The Platte County Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 16 voted not to approve a special use permit sought by Kenneth Purdue to operate four primitive campsites at 7215 Little Platte Road, after multiple neighbors raised safety, noise and liability concerns.

Staff presentation and recommendation: Jason Halterman, assistant director of planning and zoning, told the commission the 19.73-acre property was zoned for agritourism and that the applicant’s site plan showed four tent campsites with gravel parking and a gravel access drive. Halterman said the Black County Health Department and Public Works reviewed the plans and offered no objections for primitive tent camping; he noted that if the applicant built tiny homes or cabins in the future, an approved on‑site wastewater treatment system and compliance with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services would be required. "At this point, staff will say that we recommend approval because it meets those minimum requirements," Halterman said.

Voices from the neighborhood: Dozens of residents spoke during public comment, describing the campground’s proximity to homes and citing past incidents they said were linked to people staying on the site. "I heard a little child, ‘please don't hit mommy,'" neighbor Tony Mack told the commission, describing a past evening when a disturbance at a campsite occurred behind his house. Mack and other neighbors said they could hear and sometimes see campsite activity, that generators and a camper had been used in the past, and that they worried about trespass, theft from unsecured outbuildings, and the risk of grass fires during dry conditions.

Applicant response and proposed safeguards: Kenneth Purdue, who said he has hosted campers on the property for about six years, said he vets guests through Hipcamp, uses cameras to record the single entrance, and has removed RVs and other larger units since concerns were raised. He said campers are required to bring portable toilets and that he would follow building‑code and wastewater requirements before installing any cabins. "If they don't meet my criteria, then they're not even gonna go impact the neighbors," Purdue said, adding that one prior problematic stay was a referral and not booked through the site vetting process.

Conditions discussed and outcome: Commissioners discussed enforceability and several conditions, including banning RVs, limiting consecutive-night stays, setting a shorter permit term than the applicant requested, and restricting any future tiny home to a single campsite. Staff recapped the conditions the applicant had agreed to: a two-year special use permit; a 30-day maximum stay per visitor; and permitting a future tiny house only on Site 1 (subject to building code and wastewater approvals). A motion to approve the permit with those conditions was made and seconded, but the motion did not pass. The chair announced, "Item did not pass." The record does not show a roll-call tally for the vote.

What remains: With the commission declining to approve the permit, the applicant would need to decide whether to revise the proposal and return for a future hearing. Staff had noted that a camp of tents and cabins is an allowed agritourism use under the county zoning order when it meets ordinance standards such as the 100‑foot buffer from residential dwellings and noise restrictions (no outdoor amplified sound after 10 p.m.).

The commission moved on to other business and later approved the final plat for a separate subdivision (Montebello 7th Plat).