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Proposed Campground Law Draws Resort Owners Ire Save Email Print
Reporter: Mark Povolny
Email Address: mark.povolny@weau.com

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A proposal to regulate camping in one western Wisconsin town has the resort owners and the community frustrated.

The town of Prairie Lake, near Chetek in Barron County, is considering a number of new camping laws. The residents and resort owners say there aren't any problems with the current resorts, so they want to know why the town is considering new laws.

Resorts on Prairie Lake have been showing off Wisconsin’s water and wildlife for nearly a century. Frank Keller has owned the Shady Grove Resort for five years. He says this proposal would force him out of business.

"It would be a revenue thing to the point where I would lose a considerable amount of revenue in the campground and most likely lose half of my campsites by the ordinance the way it stands right now,” Keller says.

The proposal says campgrounds can only have 1 campsite for every 12 residents of Prairie Lake; for Keller that would mean dropping from 23 sites to 11 or 12.

“And I see it as another layer of government bureaucracy on top of something that's already in place," Keller adds.

That's because the new law would require owners get a town license in addition to their state license. The ordinance would also charge resort owners a $10 licensing fee per campsite per year.

Many of the 65 people at the meeting just wanted one questioned answered: why are the new laws necessary?

"The ordinance itself addresses the thought that the town feels it has a need to enact this ordinance to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens,” says Planning Commission Chairman Dan Brinkman.

But resort owners say there is no reason to fix what isn't broken, and they're worried this could take a toll on tourism in the entire area.

“We also have a big fear that if they are allowed to take a foothold here, what's to stop it from happening to another township and it could drastically hurt tourism,” Keller says.

That would be a big blow. The Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners says Barron County resorts bring in $14 million every year. This was just a public hearing meeting. The board will vote on the new laws on July 10. If they do approve any changes, resorts would have 60 days to comply.

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Posted by: Jim Location: Green Bay on Jul 4, 2007 at 03:16 PM
This is obviously an attempt to bring more money to the local town government. The local government may consider being careful playing with fire. Chetek has a good thing going for it. Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Posted by: Jim Location: Wisconsin on Jul 4, 2007 at 07:07 AM
I think it is time for Barron County to replace everyone on the board. This is simply a money grab.

Posted by: mike Location: eau claire on Jul 3, 2007 at 08:04 PM
i think the goverment should start worrying about more important stuff. wisconsin is famous for their resorts and lakes. why limit the resorts? i think they are abusing there power once again.

Posted by: Linda Location: Wisconsin on Jul 3, 2007 at 04:55 PM
Another case of too much government. If it isn't broke - and it certainly appears that it's working fine now - don't try to fix it. They must have some bigger fish to fry!

Posted by: Rick Location: Wisconsin on Jul 3, 2007 at 01:51 PM
Someone wants to force out campers in the area. This is just an abuse of power and over the top local Government. To state public saftey as a reason is a joke if there was no problems before. I swear they just look for things to screw with to make themseleves look important or something.

Posted by: Bob Location: Chetek on Jul 3, 2007 at 12:07 PM
thank you for the coverage but one point was sorely missed in your report. Mr brinkman DID NOT answer specific questions put to him. His reply was always vague. This planning commission has been working on this for 2 yrs and I know they have largely ignored comments from the campground owners to the point they did not want to waste any more time when it appeared the discussion would be one sided only. As the prior chairman stated at the end of the meeting " I thought this was a dead dog". It is no wonder that folks like myself and other resort owners/campgrounds owners see this as an anti business proposal. The next planning comm meeting is the 5th at 7pm and the 10th of July is the town board hearing.

Posted by: Joe Location: Adams County on Jul 3, 2007 at 10:24 AM
If campers stayed out of Baron County, they would soon feel the economic impact. Adams county has several nice campgrounds that will accvept them.

Posted by: Bobbi Dye Location: Adams, Wi. on Jul 3, 2007 at 07:55 AM
I don't think this makes any sence for anyone except that local gov. pockets. With the cost of gas & cost of camp sites now alot of us can't afford to go camping very often as it is this would add more cost . I may as well drive my little car & stay in a motel where they do all the work & miss out on all the fresh air & meeting of new people & sharing stories. I REALLY hope this does NOT happen

Posted by: Pat Location: Cumberland on Jul 2, 2007 at 11:20 PM
Greed plain and simple. To try and get more money they will, in fact, be losing in the long run as resorts shut down.

Posted by: Kathi Location: Rusk Co Ladysmith on Jul 2, 2007 at 11:00 PM
I think they should leave the resorts & campgrounds alone You want Wisconsin to have alot of tourist. But it won't happen if they have to pay extra fees to camp with the gas prices being so high. We for one have dropped alot of our camping plans because of the gas prices. Now you want to add extra fee's so the county can make extra monies. If this happens you will probably find yourself loosing and campgrounds etc. and probably jobs and people will move on to other state. Think about it. Tourisim is down already this year. They say alot of people traveled during the 4th of July week but according to the WEAU Poll 79 percent said they had no plans to travel.

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