County approves Sun Prairie RV park with conditions

Cascade County commissioners on Tuesday approved the preliminary plat for a 14-stall recreational vehicle park subdivision near Sun Prairie Village, and urged developer Brennan Swanberg to be a good neighbor to concerned residential neighbors.

The project will be at 48 Sun Prairie Road where Tuffy’s Sunset Inn bar is located.

Swanberg initially proposed a 25-slot RV park with individual water and sewer hookups to the Sun Prairie Water and Sewage District, which the advisory planning board recommended be denied. Because the district was at capacity, she came back with the proposal for 14 RV slots and a single bathhouse with a separate well and septic tank.

County commissioners voted to table the proposal at their June 9 meeting after several residential neighbors expressed concern about the impact the RV park might have on their homes, including excessive, late-night noise, shining lights, waste water dumping and a lowering of their property values. No neighbors were on hand to oppose the project Tuesday.

The county planning staff recommended 20 conditions, including the RV camp owner signing an agreement to control noxious weeds and erosion and place a limit on pets and wildlife and improve and maintain the road. The owner is also asked to design lighting to have minimal impact on nearby residents, keep good firefighting equipment including a 22,000 gallon fire cistern, contain all garbage and avoid noise that draws nuisance complaints.

Mark Leo, a civil engineer working with Swanberg, said she “has invested a lot of time and money on the project and will do a good job with the RV Park.”

Commissioners Jane Weber and Joe Briggs voted for conditional approval. Commissioner Jim Larson recused himself from the vote, saying he has had business dealings with Swanberg.

Sheriff’s Department Capt. Ray Hitchcock told Weber that the department issues a warning after receiving a complaint about excessive noise after 10 p.m. and issues a public nuisance charge if it continues.

Weber and Briggs said they will write a letter to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which will approve the park’s septic tank, to make sure it is large enough to serve an RV park that might have 28 or more users.

Briggs said he has concerns about the RV park’s ability to coexist with nearby residents, but no legal reason to oppose it. He said he hopes Swanberg manages it as a useful RV park, not a place for loud parties.

Weber suggested Swanberg be a good neighbor by going beyond stated conditions, such as emptying trash several times a day and providing more trees than required.

In other matters, commissioners:

• Followed Teton County’s lead in reducing the speed limit to 45 mph on the 13-mile gravel County Line Road shared by Teton and Cascade counties. The change will assure eastbound traffic, on Cascade County’s portion of the gravel road isn’t going faster than westbound traffic on Teton County’s portion.

Teton County Commissioner Jim Hodgskiss said the county is lowering speed limits after a two-car crash last spring in which a Fairfield High School student was killed on another rural road

Under Montana law, the speed limit on gravel roads is 70 mph unless specifically lowered.

• Accepted seven bids from Tamietti Construction Co. to repair portions of seven bridges along Hughesville Road, following recommendations by Montana Department of Transportation inspectors. County commissioners have scheduled a special meeting at 9:30 a.m. Friday to award the contracts.

Because the road is a primary missile route to a Minuteman missile silo the Air Force will pay $100,000, or about three-quarters of the cost of the repairs, which totals $135,226, said Jim Ekberg, deputy county public works director. The county will pay $35,226.

Each bridge has a few items on its repair list, such as repairing erosion under an abutment footing or filling and sealing cracks.