\n
![\"Up](\"https:\/\/volumeone.org\/uploads\/image\/site\/000\/439\/439\/header_1920x\/83819_83819_932_special_section_logo_up_north.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
After more than a year, the Zoning Committee reversed its position on a zoning change that would allow Up North Resort and Campground in Wascott to expand camping opportunities.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The committee voted 3-1 in favor of a zoning change from residential (R1) to a residential-recreational, recreational-commercial (RRC1) district on Wednesday, June 11.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A similar request last year by Up North owner Brian Tedford was denied after the Wascott Town Board rejected the zoning change. This time, the town board approved the change.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n County Supervisor Charlie Glazman, who voted against the change, asked for an explanation about why the zoning change was necessary.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “You can only have a large-scale campground in RRC1,” said Zach DeVoe, land services director. “So, it’s a preexisting campground that exceeds the number of campsites that you could have in that (R1) zone district.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n With changes to the Douglas County zoning ordinance adopted in 2021, the campground became a nonconforming use for the R1 zoning district, which prohibited Tedford from expanding the number of campsites available on the 61-acre parcel on Cranberry Lake.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “I’m assuming this has been preexisting for quite a while,” said Supervisor Howard Hendrickson. He said site maps on Up North’s website date back to 2016 and show 89 campsites.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The total number of approved sites is 92, DeVoe said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Hendrickson joined supervisors Joe Moen and Bill Fennessey to vote in favor of the zoning change. They also voted to approve a conditional-use permit that would allow Tedford to expand the number of campsites to 100 \u2014 the maximum allowed in Douglas County.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Conditions of the permit include having sanitary systems with a capacity to serve 100 campsites and making sure the new sites meet setback requirements from all property lines.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Gary Brett, a 20-year neighbor of Up North Resort, urged against the permit, citing noise concerns.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “Every single weekend until 2:30 in the morning, all you hear is boom, boom, boom, boom, loud music, dogs barking … people coming and going, ATVs,” he said. “There’s enough of them there already. They race up and down the road, on motorcycles; it’s really noisy every single weekend.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Committee members encouraged Brett to reach out to the Wascott Town Board, which would have jurisdiction over the noise issues.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “Even if we deny this, it’s not going to change the current noise problems you have,” Hendrickson said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Since the town has approved the zoning change, Hendrickson said the county would be required to have a strong legal argument for denying the permit, and he was concerned that noise wouldn’t meet that argument.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n