A Summit County Council hearing on proposed code changes for campgrounds and RV use brought out a big virtual crowd on Wednesday night.
The council did not come to a decision as over 100 people listened in and 24 property owners, mostly from the Manorlands neighborhood near the Mirror Lake Highway, commented.
The planning staff reported to the council on the code amendments recommended by the East County Planning Commission. There have been complaints from Uinta Mountain range communities, from Manorlands to Samak, about multiple RVs on private lots creating problems with noise, junk and sewage dumping.
The proposed ordinance defines a private campground as three or more RV parking stalls. It would be prohibited in a platted subdivision, though the staff suggested the council consider allowing the use if the platted lot is larger than three acres.
The amendments also would allow temporary parking for one RV on a lot for up to six months. One additional RV on the lot would be allowed for up to 14 days in a 30-day period.
And for a parcel over five acres, a one-week event every year would allow multiple trailers for a gathering like a hunt or a family reunion.
Critics of the proposed changes, especially from Manorlands, complained that the county is imposing restrictions on land they’ve been enjoying for decades.
They said the problems should be properly handled by a neighborhood homeowner’s association. Several owners said that they have been responsible and established septic systems and wells on their parcels. And they said the stories about sewage being dumped near rivers and streams haven’t been substantiated.
An owner at Manorlands, Chris Bertram, urged the council to hold off on enacting the changes.
“It’s a solution looking for a problem,” he said. “I understand, as I’ve heard some of the people speak, that there are issues that have been, with regards to Health Department or other issues that Summit County believes that there’s there. But my recommendation is that this council look at tabling this issue, and actually looking at what the real issues are. A lot of the things brought up at this committee is HOA-related issues in my opinion. And as a property owner, I’m not sure that I want Summit County coming in and giving us something that is going to greatly change how we recreate up there, whether in Manorlands or as a private property owner. I view that as something that could affect our property values.”
Andy Batch said he owns two lots in the Samak area and feels that the county’s proposals are unreasonable.
“And I really don’t understand how anybody thinks they have the power to tell people that they can have one family reunion a year on their own private property,” he said. “I mean, what kind of government are we living in that thinks that they have the right to tell people that? I’m sorry, but I think that Summit County’s going to overstep their bounds. I don’t they should be involved in it, because we have an association. We should let the association play out. I think this came from a couple of disgruntled people that barely moved in from out of state, decided they didn’t like the trailers, so they decided to cause trouble. And I think this is where the whole thing originated.”
On the other hand, Rusty Larson said he’s been an owner in Manorlands for nearly 60 years and thinks there’s been too much trailer use in the area.
“When this property was originally developed, it was sold as recreational cabin property. It wasn’t sold as mini-campgrounds,” he said. “All I can say is we’ve reached the point where there has to be some sort of a limit. People that have large acreage, they could put 50, 60 trailers on one lot. There just has to be some sort of a limit somehow. The water’s not a big deal. We’ve got some private water systems up there, a lot of wells. Most places have power. It’s just the sheer number of people in trailers trying to occupy a small area.”
Chris Valdez said the major issue isn’t trailers, but rather the number of people pouring into the area. He said he served on a trailer review committee for Manorlands that discussed how to improve the neighborhood.
“The way to fix that was to limit deadfall, was to increase the amount of—not regulations—but to go and find those that are polluting the land and dumping on their own properties, that don’t have septic systems, and ATV use,” he said. “It wasn’t trailers that was the issue. It was basically being able to regulate the rules that were in place already.”
The county council kept the public hearing open and continued the item to their meeting on June 30.
