One of the upscale park models now on site at the Jackson Hole Campground in Wyoming.
Teton County, Wyo., commissioners are slated to review rules today (Jan. 3) that would allow campground owners to bring recreational park trailers onto their land indefinitely.
The Jackson Hole Daily reported that since park models began showing up in the valley in 2010, the trailers have sparked debate about whether they should be considered permanent structures or mobile campground improvements.
Although the rules review by the commissioners comes after most campground owners in the valley already have been allowed to put the structures on their properties, the regulations could have an effect on new applications or attempts to bring more of the trailers onto existing campgrounds.
County officials are scheduled to take up the issue during a meeting that begins at 9 a.m. today at commissioners’ chambers.
The county’s current land-use rules do not address the trailers, an omission that has made it difficult for planners to regulate the structures as campground owners try to improve what they offer customers.
The hard-sided trailers are manufactured outside the county, then delivered to campgrounds, where they are attached to electrical and sewer hook-ups. Some offer full kitchens and bathrooms and bedrooms with the comforts of home.
Since last year, county staff and elected officials have reviewed requests to bring the trailers onto campgrounds on a case-by-case basis.
County commissioners approved a request to bring 27 trailers onto the Snake River KOA and signed a settlement agreement that allowed Jackson Hole Campground to have 26 trailers. An application from the Buffalo Valley RV Resort still is pending.
According to Jackson Hole Daily, the new rules that county commissioners will review would create a special permitting process for the trailers.
Proposed New Regs
Under the proposed rules, campground owners could use no more than 40% of their total number of campsites for park models. In addition, the total number of campsites, which includes RVs and tent sites, would be capped at 17 per acre.
Guests staying in recreational park trailers would not be able to spend more than 30 days in the trailer for any 90-day period.
In an attempt to stave off fractional ownership or time-share arrangements for the trailers, planning commissioners asked that some kind of stipulation be attached that requires all recreation-al trailers at a campground to be owned by a single entity.
The new rules also would require campground owners to submit annual monitoring reports about how the trailers are being used.
Planning commissioners recommended county commissioners approve the new regulations. Though only one member of the group voted against the rules, planning commissioners raised a host of questions about the units.
Several county commissioners have suggested the trailers should be regulated as structures, a designation that would force them to comply with additional safety and building rules.
A handful of valley residents also have questioned whether the trailers allow campground owners to offer lodging without having to deal with the same rules that apply to hotels.
