If you’re a private property owner in Rio Grande County and want to camp on your land, go for it. If you’re a private property owner in Rio Grande County and want to host and charge people to camp on your land, well then, you’ll have to comply with the newly defined general use regulations for campgrounds and RV Parks.
Those land use regulations were adopted Wednesday on a 2-1 vote from the Rio Grande County Commissioners. The new rules essentially ban “dry camping” on private property being used for commercial gain, which has been a thing in Rio Grande County.
There have been private property owners renting out their land to host others to camp out, according to comments made during a public hearing ahead of the commissioners’ approval. Now, those types of operations that bring campers onto private lands for a fee and without sanitation provided, will have to cease under the new RV Park and Campground regulations.
The commissioners heard about 90 minutes of testimony from different land owners and residents, some in support and some opposed. Commissioners Tyler Ratzlaff and Gene Glover supported the proposal, while Commissioner Scott Deacon opposed it. None of the commissioners made comments.
Rio Grande County’s move to eliminate dry camping came over sewer issue concerns, said TJ Dlubac, whose company, Community Planning Strategies, helped Rio Grande County develop the plan.
“It was a conscious decision and discussion through this process that all commercial ventures in Rio Grande County should have the provision of sewage disposal and that’s either through the OWTS (on-site wastewater treatment systems) standards or connecting to a public system,” Dlubac said.You can review Rio Grande County’s RV Park and Campground regulations HERE.