Scott County APC to seek health inspection on longtime camper complaint; rezoning application faces floodplain questions

At its Jan. 14 meeting the Scott County Advisory Plan Commission heard two land-use items: neighbors’ complaints about a longtime occupant in a camper at 3111 South Big Ox Road, and a rezoning inquiry for a parcel behind the Dollar General on Leota Road.

Stacy Turner, the commission’s executive director, told the board that neighbors had asked for action after the parcel — which went to tax sale in 2025 and was later redeemed — has been an “eyesore” and may contain a long-term camper occupied by Riley Nees. Turner said staff does not have a current permit on file and that “if there was ever a permit, then the 1 year expiration has expired.” Commissioners agreed the first step is a health-and-safety inspection to confirm whether someone is residing there and whether the site is habitable. "I would say that if there was ever a permit, then the 1 year expiration has expired," Turner said.

On a separate agenda item, Turner described a rezoning request from Jam Constructors for a parcel just behind the Dollar General on Leota Road. The applicant seeks to change zoning from B2 (general business) to R2 to allow duplex construction. Commissioners and staff said most of the parcel backs onto floodplain, meaning any building will need floodplain analysis and likely review by the Department of Natural Resources and county floodplain staff. "If you go into the flood zone, then we go through the DNR, the state, and the county," a commissioner said.

The commission asked staff to request inspections and floodplain documentation and to return findings at a later meeting before pursuing enforcement or acting on rezoning. No ordinance enforcement action or rezoning decision was taken at the Jan. 14 meeting.