Planning Commission approves All Season RV Park permit modification

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The county’s Planning Commission approved a modification to the Major Use Permit for All Season RV Park.

Two members of the Planning Commission were absent Oct. 21, but the other five approved the modification which will redesign the wireless communications facility monopoles to look like a false tree. The permit will be for a 15-year period and will expire on Oct. 21, 2037.

All Season RV Park is in the 30000 block of Old Highway 395 and on the west side of the road which is the boundary between the Bonsall Community Planning Area and the Valley Center Community Planning Area. The 16.67-acre parcel has RR Rural Residential zoning and a VR-2 Village Residential land use designation. An adjacent parcel is under common ownership and also includes part of All Season RV Park.

The original Major Use Permit for the parcel was approved in July 1985 and allowed for an expansion of the existing recreational vehicle park for a total of 108 RV spaces and a camping area. In August 1996, the Planning Commission approved a Major Use Permit modification which authorized the wireless telecommunication facility. A subsequent minor deviation was approved for minor

equipment changes, upgrades, and maintenance to the two antennas. The facility is accessed from a driveway off of Old Highway 395.

Sections 6985 and 6991 of the county’s Zoning Ordinance stipulate that permits for high-visibility wireless facilities in a residential or rural zone have a maximum term of 10 years for facilities valued between $10,000 and $500,000 and 15 years for facilities valued at $500,000 or more.

Both monopoles and false trees are included in the county’s definition of high-visibility towers. The permit may be extended in the case of economic hardship or if no smaller or less visible technology to replace the facility is available or feasible. The 15-year period for any facility approved prior to April 30, 2003, began on that date and thus expired on April 30, 2018.

The design of the All Season RV Park facility was found to utilize the most current technology and was recommended to be granted an additional 15 years of operation before being re-evaluated against the technology available in the future. The monopoles are 20 feet tall and the false tree will be 22 feet 6 inches tall and will house two panel antennas. All construction will take place within the footprint of the existing lease area, so no grading or trenching will be necessary for the redesign.

The false tree should blend with the surrounding hills and vegetation. The facility is approximately 600 feet west of Old Highway 395, 150 feet east of Interstate 15, and 1,200 feet northwest of the nearest neighboring property which has a retail nursery. In part because of topographic changes, it is only slightly visible from Old Highway 395 and Interstate 15.

The Bonsall Community Sponsor Group recommended approval of the permit modification on a 5-0 vote in December 2021. The I-15 Corridor Design Review Board had four members present Sept. 14 and all favored the modification.