Planning Commission approves 10-year renewal for Wildwood Campground with occupancy limits

The Mendocino County Planning Commission on a unanimous vote approved a 10-year renewal of the Wildwood Campground use permit (UR20240004), adopting an addendum to the earlier negative declaration and adding conditions intended to prevent the site from reverting to long-term residential use.

Russ Ford, project planner for the county, told commissioners the Wildwood property—about 3.8 miles southeast of Fort Bragg on West Highway 20—includes 73 campsites (45 with septic hookups), a manager's residence, office and two restroom/shower buildings. Ford reviewed the site's permitting history (original 1973 approval, renewals in 1993, 2013 and 2019) and described staff's recommended revisions to conditions including regular septic inspections and a new requirement that existing long-term residential units be brought into compliance, removed, or converted to allowed uses within one year of approval.

The applicant, Travis Senning, operations manager and business partner, said the new operator has invested in cleanup and maintenance. "We've spent approximately $25,000 in cost at the Willits Transfer Station over the last three years to clean this place up," Senning told the commission and said the operator seeks to run a transient, tourist-oriented campground rather than a mobile home park. He read permit numbers for the site's septic systems into the record and provided revenue figures (about $76,000 in 2023, $129,000 in 2024 and roughly $182,000 year-to-date in 2025) to illustrate the site's tourist activity.

Commissioner concerns centered on past compliance and potential serial long-term camping. Commissioner Jones proposed several specific additions to the conditions, asking for a cap on occupancy and the number of trailers per site. Staff returned with draft language limiting each campsite to a maximum occupancy of eight individuals and one trailer or recreational vehicle, with exceptions for approved group campsites shown on the site map. That language was included in the resolution adopted by the commission.

The motion to adopt the resolution—"adopting an addendum to the previously adopted negative declaration and granting a use permit renewal for a transient habitation campground subject to the changes executed at the meeting"—was moved by Commissioner Jones, seconded by another commissioner, and passed on a roll-call vote with Commissioner Wiedemann, Commissioner Jones, Commissioner Richards and Vice Chair Pollan voting yes.

The revised conditions discussed at the hearing also included: an updated schedule for environmental health inspections (site inspections of nonstandard septic and leach fields every three years), corrected code references in the resolution and a requirement that the property owner submit an updated campground management plan within 90 days of project approval. Staff recommended, and the commission approved, a 10-year permit term that would set the new expiration date as June 1, 2034.

Next steps: staff will finalize the resolution and file the updated permit documents. The commission's action did not change other operational requirements beyond the revised and newly added conditions; any future compliance or enforcement actions will be handled through the county's normal processes.