Public supports River Road campground

The first campground under Rock County’s revised ordinance received a favorable recommendation for a conditional use permit Monday night by the Rock County Planning and Zoning Commission.
Fourteen people gathered in the Law Enforcement Center in Luverne along with campground organizers Billy Cowell and Mike and Traci Davis, all of Luverne.
Six people vocalized their support for the 20-site fully developed campground. One person supplied written support.
Karen and Mike Menson live west of the proposed campground. They have watched Cowell and Davis clean the former Boy Scouts camp location.
“We are in favor,” Karen said. “They have taken a property that was an eye sore — a place if people had a refrigerator, they dumped, kids partied — it was a big mess and they are really trying to make it into something. I think it would be a real asset in our neighborhood.”
One concern came by written comment from Ray Skyberg, who owns land west of the proposed campground and was concerned about trespassers on his property. A fence currently divides the two parcels.
“We are willing to work with him,” Mike Davis said.
Cowell purchased the 13.1-acre site in 2017 from the Luverne Country Club.
The club had purchased the property in the late 1980s as a water source for the golf course. The property was purchased from the Boy Scouts organization in 1988 or 1989, according to Assistant County Attorney Don Klosterbuer. The Scouts had used the property for 15 to 20 years.
Cowell and the Davises plan 20 campsites in the southeast corner of the property. The sites will have individual connections to electricity and rural water. A dump station is currently planned in lieu of individual sewer connections.
Mike Davis said a portion of the property, located southeast of Luverne, is located in a flood plain. State regulations limit the number of camping sites on the property and the installation of an in-ground sewer system because of its proximity to the flood plain.
“With more land, it might be possible for an on-site sewer system,” he said.
The proposed campground is located in a general agricultural district.
Commissioners voted earlier this year to allow camping as a conditional use in A-2 districts.
With the favorable recommendation to locate a campground in Section 12 of Luverne Township, the permit request will come to the Rock County Commissioners for a final permit approval.
The commissioners’ next meeting is Aug. 6.
Three conditions were recommended for the permit:
•compliance with Minnesota Department of Health requirements/standards.
•Quiet time hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
•Wastewater shall be managed.