Hours of testimony didn’t stop a proposal for a new RV resort to replace a shooting range southwest of Boise.
On Tuesday morning, the Ada County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a proposal from company Griffin Marketing to build the 310-space Ridgeview RV Resort at 7680 Vallejo Road. The roughly 40-acre property, which is located west of the southern end of Cole Road, is currently the home of shooting range Black Dog Clays.
This project attracted dozens of nearby residents to the Ada County Courthouse to testify over the course of two hearings, with discussions about the proposal stretching late into the night. Many residents living on large lots nearby were bitterly opposed to the idea, saying it would bring noise, traffic, light pollution and the potential for increased crime from transient residents passing through the park to their area.
There’s a shortage of RV park spaces, this will add to the inventory and this will be for the betterment of the community and the individuals involved have done a lot to benefit the old community by putting water in and doing landscaping.”
But, on the other hand, proponents for the project and the developer said it would meet a need for more RV spaces in the Treasure Valley both for visitors and those looking for affordable spaces to live in their RVs. This sparked a lengthy discussion at the hearings about whether the RV park would be a commercial use, an affordable housing use or something in between and its appropriateness for the area.
The original application proposed 388 spaces, but this has been downgraded to 310. Griffin Marketing said the lead in the area leftover from years of shooting at the range would be cleaned up before the park is constructed.
While their number one goal is to make a profit, they also need to look at the needs of the surrounding community and know there are people with limited means who want to live in an RV and are having trouble finding a spot in Ada County and as a result are getting cited by our code enforcement.”
The Ada County Planning & Zoning Commission initially denied the project and it was appealed to the County Commissioners. The first hearing ended with the commissioners requesting the developer return with a plan for landscaping, lighting and signage in the area and a second hearing on the changes.
What did the commissioners say?
Commissioner Ryan Davidson said he thought long and hard about the proposal and took a “deep dive” into the legal issues before deciding to approve it.
He said Ada County might have to revisit how it classifies RV parks in the future and decide if they will be a commercial or residential property, which determines where they can be located and what restrictions they have. Davidson said he opted not to put any restrictions on this project and the management of the park, but he hopes the owners will be mindful of how many low-income residents there are in the community searching for housing.
“While their number one goal is to make a profit, they also need to look at the needs of the surrounding community and know there are people with limited means who want to live in an RV and are having trouble finding a spot in Ada County and as a result are getting cited by our code enforcement,” he said. “For that reason, I decided not to push for requirements relating to length of stay or the age of the RVs.”
Commissioners Rod Beck also noted the community benefit with more RV spaces as a reason he decided to grant the project the green light.
“There’s a shortage of RV park spaces, this will add to the inventory and this will be for the betterment of the community and the individuals involved have done a lot to benefit the old community by putting water in and doing landscaping,” he said.
Commissioner Tom Dayley said the property’s long history as a commercial property is what convinced him the RV park should be approved.
“The Southwest Ada County land use plan designates this as commercial, the historic use of the property is commercial, it has not been used as rangeland and the proposed commercial use is based on availability of required resources,” he said.
