County Planning & Zoning Commission gets plenty of feedback on Roundtable about campground zoning

The Winneshiek County Planning & Zoning Commission scheduled a roundtable discussion Tuesday night to get input on zoning regulations of campgrounds in the county--and they got plenty of that.

On the one hand, campground owners stressed the need to be able to make money for their business without being handicapped by too many regulations.  On the other hand, neighbors of campgrounds stressed the need to regulate noise, traffic and other problems stemming from crowds at the campgrounds.

Chimney Rocks Campground owner Deb Keefe stressed her "constitutional right to make a living."  Keefe, who had sparred with her neighbors over a rock concert held at the campground, said one concert out of 52 weeks a year is not too much.

Hutchinson Campground owner Dixie Hutchinson struck a more middle ground, saying she tries to do what the county wants, but the county's rules are "way too complicated."  Said Hutchinson, "I've tried to follow the rules, but it handicaps me every step of the way."  She pointed to needing to file out paperwork for a site plan to add a lawn mower shed to her property as an example of the county's failure to use common sense in its regulations.

Neighbors of Chimney Rock Campground pressed county officials to be specific in their regulations.  Kristen Heine urged the Planning & Zoning Commission to have rules about what noise levels would be determined to be a "nuisance."  Jim Tweedy also asked that there be regulations about what time events like concerts should end.

But Tweedy also called for not making the process confrontational or adversarial.  "Just make (these rules) workable," he urged.  WCCVB Tourism Director Charlene Selbee ended the roundtable discussion with a plea to remember "campgrounds are critical for tourism."