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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

CITY OF TOWER

City Attorney: Rose RV Park project can move forward

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 5/7/20

TOWER— For five years, prospective recreational vehicle park developer Dave Rose has fought against city officials here who refused to issue him a conditional use permit for his plan to …

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CITY OF TOWER

City Attorney: Rose RV Park project can move forward

Posted

TOWER— For five years, prospective recreational vehicle park developer Dave Rose has fought against city officials here who refused to issue him a conditional use permit for his plan to construct a 30-35-unit seasonal RV campground along the East Two River.
Now, according to City Attorney Mitch Brunfelt, Rose has actually had his conditional use permit, by law, since at least 2015, even though some now-former city officials argued otherwise.
But even as Rose now intends to move forward with his plan, it’s apparent he doesn’t yet have everything in place to begin construction— and he could still face additional hurdles.
The turnabout led to a lengthy discussion at the city’s planning and zoning commission, where commission chair Steve Altenburg continued to insist that Rose had to complete a long list of tasks before he could actually receive a conditional use permit from the city.
Yet it was the conclusion of the city attorney that held sway with the commission.
In an April 28 letter addressed to Rose, Brunfelt informs the New London RV park developer that he has had his conditional use permit, or CUP, since shortly after he applied in 2015. That’s because city officials, including former Zoning Administrator Linda Keith and commission chair Altenburg had failed to abide by a state law that requires governmental bodies to approve or reject a conditional use permit within 60 days of the date of application. In the case of Rose, wrote Brunfelt, the city accepted his original application for 27 RV campsites, held the required public hearing, but never issued a determination. While governmental bodies can apply for a 60-day extension, city officials never did so and, in either case, any such extension would have expired years ago.
By accepting his application and $100 fee, the city was “on-the-clock” according to Brunfelt, and when the planning commission failed to either vote yay or nay on the request within the 60-day timeline, the commission forfeited its rights and the CUP was approved “automatically.”
By failing to abide by the timelines set in state statute, the city also forfeited its right to place conditions on Rose’s project that might have helped to address concerns from neighbors on Mill Point about potential disturbance from the development. Rose has since submitted other CUP applications to the city, with slightly higher numbers of RV units than his original proposal.
Despite the turn of events, it’s not clear that Rose’s development faces smooth sailing. He still needs to determine how to address the wastewater discharge from the facility, and that’s an issue that has become increasingly difficult in the wake of the city’s 2017 decision to connect the Hoodoo Point Campground to the Tower-Breitung wastewater system, which consumed much of the city’s remaining treatment capacity.
According to Tower-Breitung Wastewater Manager Matt Tuchel, the municipal system can only safely accept an additional 3,000 gallons per day based on recent calculations he has done. Last year was significantly wetter than average and that boosted the flow to the system’s sewage ponds nearly to capacity, according to Tuchel. While the average annual flow is determined by a three-year average, Tuchel said the exceptionally high flow in 2019 was high enough that it will likely keep the system’s average flow at very close to capacity for the next three years.
Tuchel had informed the joint wastewater board of the situation at their meeting in April. “I’m trying to be proactive,” he said.
Based on a typical allocation of 160 gallons per day for a seasonal RV camper, that would appear to allow Rose just 18 sites, which is considerably fewer than the 30-35 sites he has proposed most recently.
According to John Thomas of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Rose’s project will likely require a sewage extension permit from the MPCA to connect to the Tower-Breitung system. That permit would also require the approval of the Tower-Breitung Wastewater Board and the city of Tower.
Tuchel said he would advise against approving anything more than an extra 3,000 gallons per day. “I would certainly recommend that they consider the ramifications,” he said.
Rose has insisted in the past that he already has permission to connect to the Tower-Breitung wastewater treatment system, but Tuchel said any actual permit request would need to come before the wastewater board for formal approval.
Rose said the situation won’t stop his project. He’s already researching the option of using holding tanks to service the RVs, although the cost of regularly pumping those tanks could be substantial, depending on the volume.
Rose said he’s unlikely to go with a septic system because it would consume a substantial amount of his limited space for RVs. He currently has just over ten acres to work with for his project. He’s currently working with Benchmark Engineering to finalize his site design.
Implications
for the future
The situation with Rose’s proposed RV park demonstrates the limit to growth in Tower-Soudan posed by the sewage treatment capacity. The situation would have imperiled the planned town home project at the harbor, except for the fact that that project has already been issued a permit by the MPCA, the wastewater board, and the city of Tower. Should that project move forward, however, it will add further strain to the city’s system.
Tuchel said the situation argues for more attention to the system’s longstanding problem with inflow and infiltration, or I and I. The communities’ aging sewage collection lines receive a tremendous amount of freshwater I and I most years, which consumes valuable treatment capacity. The wastewater board briefly considered options for expanding capacity, but Tuchel said virtually every option imposed huge costs, both for construction and operation. “With the numbers, it’s really hard to fathom how we could afford an expansion,” said Tuchel.
City officials have known about the I and I problem for years and Tuchel said he hopes the current situation will focus attention on the need to “get serious” about addressing the issue.
“We’ve got to keep it in the limelight,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s too easy for it to be out of sight, out of mind.”