ELK POINT, S.D. -- Union County Commissioners put an end Tuesday to developers' plans for an upscale RV park along the riverfront.

In a 5-0 vote, commissioners upheld its Planning and Zoning Committee's denial of rezoning for a 540-acre parcel of land that would have held The Wilds RV Resort. About 12 people attended that portion of the commission meeting.

The Wilds' intended site was 4 miles west and three miles south of Jefferson, S.D., immediately west of the Ralph Rosenbaum public boat ramp.

Developer Faron McFarland, a contractor from the Brookings, S.D., area and a partner in the proposed park, left the meeting quickly after the vote, along with his engineer, Kim McLaury, without responding to the defeat.

Before the vote McFarland told the commissioners the RV park would "be a great basis for tourism" in the county. But, he cautioned, "It's a unique piece of property; there's not a whole lot of things that can be done with this property."

McFarland and his two partners had appealed the P&Z Committee's decision to the County Commission. The rezoning was a condition of their contract to purchase the land.

The developers asked in December for the land to be rezoned from agricultural to planned development use. The Planning and Zoning Board denied the request after a public hearing at which many people complained about the wear and tear on the gravel road leading to the property, among other things. The partners had planned to blacktop 479th Street, but later said they would blacktop a different road which was preferred by some people to carry the RV park traffic.

In the end, their efforts to please did them no good. "Lack of community support for the project is the main problem," Commissioner Dan Lederman said after Tuesday's meeting was adjourned.

Gary Pierce, who said he owns a home site near what would be the front gate of the private development, was one of two residents who spoke before the commissioners voted. Both were against the project. Pierce said he plans to build a house on his land and expects to pay $3,000 in property taxes. He said the addition to the county of 50 homes a year would net more in property taxes than the estimated $38,000 to $56,000 the RV park would pay. He also drew repeated unfavorable comparisons to an RV park at Little Sioux, Iowa.

Pierce said no economic development resulted in the city of Little Sioux because of the RV campsite there.

Anna Faulk, who lives on 478th Street and said she would "be eating the dust" from the traffic, told commissioners the project would put a burden on road maintenance, generate garbage and negatively impact wildlife.

As described in December by McFarland, The Wilds' first phase would have featured 400 RV lots with full utilities, ranging in price from $25,000 to $55,000. Streets and pads would be hard-surfaced. The development would have also included a marina, bar, restaurant, sales office and boat storage. The full project was estimated to cost $3.2 million and be completed by 2010.

McFarland and his partner, Brookings attorney Tim Hogan, have developed two lakeside subdivision projects, both in South Dakota on the Hamlin/Kingsbury county line.

Source: siouxcityjournal.com