April 17, 2025, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the April 17, 2025, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

All commissioners were present.

This meeting was a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. The room’s video system wasn’t working, but the meeting was recorded on audio.

At the beginning of the meeting, the agenda was amended to allow the first agenda item to be “Second Public Hearing – Speed Limit Reduction on Thong Tree Road and Pershing Drive.”

This item was a proposal to reduce the speed limit in that area.

One resident was present in support of the speed limit reduction.

Nobody was present to oppose it.

That concluded this agenda item and the Commission will schedule one final meeting and then vote on the matter.

The second agenda item was “PZ25-0005 Von Brendel – R-1 to B-2.”

Tom Abbett was present to speak for this re-zone. He wants to develop a campground RV park near the Ozark Amphitheater. It will initially have 20 RV spots and will provide overnight camping for the venue. Guests would be limited to a 28 day cycle.

There was no opposition and the Planning and Zoning Commission approved it 7-0.

It was unanimously approved.

The third agenda item was “PZ25-0013 Tufts Electric LLC – Rezone B-2 to A-R.”

The owner was present and she wanted to rezone a 5 acre portion of the property so her son could build a home on the property and have some animals. The property used to be an auto body shop and they desired to keep the rest of it B-2.

There was nobody opposed to this re-zone.

It was unanimously approved.

The fourth agenda item was “PZ25-0026 – H. Marathon LLC – Re-zone B-2 to R-1.”

The owner was present and he desired to expand an existing adjacent R-1 lot to make it a buildable lot. Planning and Zoning Commission approved the re-zone 7-0.

Nobody was opposed to it.

It was unanimously approved.

The final agenda item was “PZ25-0025 Angel Cove Rd., LLC – Re-zone R-1 to B-2.”

Christy Wright is the property owner and she was asking for a re-zone so she could build an event venue . In total, it’s a 19 acre tract and she wants to separate 2.7 acres and re-zone it as B-2.

The project would include a 60 ft by 50 ft event center with a kitchen. The location would have several rental cabins, a swimming pool, a day dock, and a parking lot for 20-25 cars. The venue would accommodate 50-60 guests and would be rented out for family reunions, weddings, and other weekend events.

Wright explained that the rental contracts would limit the number of attendees and would not allow parking off of the parking lot and on the road. The contracts would also require the renters to have security or other staff on site depending on the size of the event. Wright also intends to build her own residence on a lakefront lot near the property.

There was nobody else who came forward to speak on behalf of the re-zone.

There were approximately a dozen residents who were opposed to the re-zone. They included two gentlemen who represented two of the condominium complexes that were located north of the property and shared the same county access road.

Rather than go through each individual’s comments, I’ll summarize their issues and complaints with re-zoning the plot.

Many were concerned that re-zoning the lot to a B-2 from a R-1 “opened up a Pandora’s Box.” (Look that one up, kids.)

If the property was re-zoned to B-2, it could be used for a variety of other purposes and it might encourage other developers to purchase R-1 lots with the intent to get them re-zoned after they bought them. This could be considered spot zoning.

A representative from the Planning and Zoning Department pointed out that under the current R-1 zoning in accordance with the Unified Land Use Code, Wright could put 136 VRBO units on the property and still offer the pool and event center as an amenity.

Others were concerned about the noise from the event center and the proposed pool area. After questioning from the commissioners, they acknowledged that their own complexes had clubhouses that could be rented for events and swimming pools.

Wright explained that she would have noise restrictions for outside music.

There was a complaint about an eagle’s nest, but when the individual pointed out on the projector map where the nest was, the commissioners commented that the nest looked pretty far away from any of the properties in question.

The biggest issue seemed to be the poor condition of the road that would be shared by the proposed venue and the condominiums. It was narrow and difficult for two cars to pass each other. It also had several curves that could be dangerous with heavy traffic.

Christy Wright responded in rebuttal.

Regarding the noise concerns, she pointed out that Captain Ron’s was just across the lake from these properties. She felt that the traffic for her planned event venue would only be busy during the actual event days and would be occurring during hours that were “non-peak” in comparison to the traffic for the condominium developments. She was willing to grant easements if it would help the county straighten out the road to make it safer and her project would be contributing road impact fees to the county. She had received an opinion from Bill Moulder at the Missouri Department of Conservation that her project would have very little impact on the nature life in the area.

Finally, she acknowledged that she could build a similar project on the site even if the re-zone was not approved.

George Pruitt from the Planning and Zoning Commission asked to speak on behalf of the re-zone. He was in favor of re-zoning the lot and he thought that most of the complaints about it were exaggerations. He felt that people were just complaining and these were the typical “NIMBY” issues that come with most projects. He also stated that he has worked on construction projects where eagles nested 100 feet from the construction site and it never fazed them.

(I’d never seen a Planning and Zoning Commission member speak at a Commission Planning and Zoning meeting before. I’m not sure if that’s how it’s supposed to work since the Planning and Zoning Commission had already weighed in on the matter when they approved it 5-2. The neighbors in the crowd definitely seemed like they didn’t like it.)

In the end, the Commission voted unanimously to approve the re-zone. I was able to take some photos of the displays Christy Wright brought to the meeting.

And that was that.