Camp Sherman zoning goes to mediation

The long- running saga of land- use planning in Camp Sherman is moving on to a new chapter. A mediation process is underway, with a report to the public scheduled for 10 a.m. January 18 at the Camp Sherman Community Hall.

The Jefferson County commission called for the mediation and the county engaged the services of David Schieber , a professional mediator from Ashland, using a grant from the governor's natural resources office.

Schieber convened a mediation team consisting of Tom Landis, Steve McGhehey, Bob Lovelien, Chuck McGraw, Lonnie Williams, Toni Foster, and Kent Gill. The team expects to have an initial revision of the Camp Sherman zoning ordinance ready for review at the January meeting.

Several years ago a series of controversial development proposals highlighted inadequacies in the existing land use rules for Camp Sherman. The local land use advisory committee, with the assistance of several volunteer professional planners, developed language for a new ordinance, which was unanimously approved by the planning commission.

At a meeting in Camp Sherman in January, 1995, the county court revised this draft, increasing densities for both residential and resort projects. The state review of the Jefferson County ordinance resulted in the county's work being remanded on the basis that it did not adequately address the state's land use Goal 14 regarding the protection of rural values.

The mediation team has wrestled with several broad issues relating to that remand order, including the possible use of some recently- developed rules governing land use planning for rural communities as an alternative to operating under the strictures of Goal 14.

Issues surrounding density of residential development and expanding or reconfiguring resort properties were addressed, as well as questions about the kinds, location and amount of commercial development. Development standards for parking, lighting, landscaping, signs, building heights and materials, and fences were also examined.