A South Dakota legislator and Aberdeen city are attempting to modify the state’s law so that a private campground owner in the area can’t stop a municipality from building or expanding a campground in a particular situation.
The decision of whether the state law will continue to favor private campgrounds is to be determined as the Senate Local Government Committee approved Senator Al Novstrup‘s (R-Aberdeen) proposal, according to a report.
Novstrup, whose family runs an amusement center located at the city-owned Wylie Park recreation and camping complex, wants to include a clause that says that the law isn’t applicable to municipal campgrounds that have been in operation since 1980.
Novstrup claimed that was the year Aberdeen opened the Wylie Park campground.
The law states that a municipality can establish campgrounds or tourist accommodations if there’s no existing private campground approved and inspected by the South Dakota Department of Health, located within 15 miles of the municipality.
It also says that a municipality is allowed to build or expand camping or tourist accommodation facilities if there is an existing private campground within 15 miles of the municipality, provided that the owner of the private campground ratifies in writing the building or extension of the municipality’s campground.
The bill was heard on Friday by the Senate committee. Novstrup claimed that anyone right now has the option of opening a campground within the 15-mile radius and block a municipal campground proposal.
The committee voted 4-2 to forward Novstrup‘s law to the entire Senate.
