Campground owner defends permits, inspections and outreach amid zoning concerns

Rebecca Murdock, the owner of a proposed campground near Harrison, used the public-comment portion of the July 8 council meeting to defend her operations and outline steps she says she has taken to comply with city requirements.

"My businesses are properly licensed for 2024 and 2025 and all required local taxes have been paid," Murdock said, adding that the city assigned official addresses to both campgrounds in January 2024. She told the council that fire pits on the property were inspected in 2024 and again in May 2025 by fire officials — including the Idaho State Fire Marshal — and that inspections found the pits compliant. Murdock said she voluntarily banned fires for the remainder of the season after a neighbor confrontation.

Murdock provided a timeline of recent permitting and inspections: Avista installed electrical service in 2022; a county inspector confirmed a valid Site Disturbance Permit and issued a red tag for a missing silt fence that would be removed once work was completed; she scheduled an electrical inspection for June 16 and submitted a Special Use Permit on June 12. She said she met with Mayor Wanda Irish on June 10 and was informed the issues discussed were resolved following that meeting.

Murdock also said she has taken steps to reduce traffic impacts by posting signs and routing visitors to O'Gara Road rather than Woodlawn Drive, and that some missed city mail was due to a recent switch from a P.O. Box to a residential mailbox. She stated that her family has experienced harassment from certain individuals and that those people have been trespassed from the property by the Kootenai County Sheriff. Murdock said she is willing to provide additional documentation on inspections, permits and communications if requested by the council.