Partying and explosions at St. Anthony dunes irk neighbors
Source:
http://www.rexburgstandardjournal.com/articles/2009/10/20/news/30.txt
ST. ANTHONY -- Last week a group of people who live near the Desert Oasis recreational vehicle park at the St. Anthony Sand Dunes loudly protested to the Fremont County Commission about the exuberant partying that occurs when huge crowds gather there.
This week the commission called together officials that might be involved in addressing the problems to talk about resolving the complaints.
"On big holidays, there are huge amounts of people out there, cases of beer stacked high and Sobe bombs thrown in the fire with glass flying," Commission Chairman Paul Romrell said, repeating the complaints of the Egin area residents. "This goes on all night."
The RV park is private property, so patrols by law enforcement are out of the question until there is a specific complaint. And when the cops do show up, the noise and partying stops until after the cops have left.
Romrell says the rumor is that the Sand Hills Resort on the other end of the dune is "regulated," so the place to party is the Oasis.
A video of exploding propane tanks and "Sobe bombs," (glass bottles with a small amount of gasoline in them) in bonfires are posted on You Tube under the title, "Blowing stuff up at the St. Anthony Sand Dunes," though it is unclear where at the dunes the video was shot. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVAlI9n9atE) YouTube lists it as being uploaded two years ago.
Complaints have been lodged with law enforcement for some time, but last week was the first neighborhood group effort to get the partying under control.
Romrell asked if the county could adopt some sort of permit system to regulate large gatherings.
Prosecuting Attorney Joette Lookabaugh reminded him of right to freedom of assembly in the Bill of Rights.
"Let's not even go there," she said.
While law enforcement seems stymied in its efforts through the criminal code, the county has leverage to act through its land-use permits and codes.
Fremont Planning and Building Department staff have looked up the Class 2 permit for the Desert Oasis RV Park and matched it to what has been occurring at the park during major holidays and other summer weekends and discovered there may be compliance issues.
Having commercial rentals and tent camping with no facilities, as well as moving the convenience store from the original site plan location, are potential violations of the permit, according to Planning and Administrator Kurt Hibbert.
During the course of the discussion, county officials watched the YouTube video of Sobe bomb explosions and viewed out aerial photos of the site on the county's map server program to see how land use had changed from 1992 to 2004 to 2006.
Planner Joshua Chase says the property owners signed permit documents stating that noise would be contained after 11 p.m. and the solid waste would be collected and removed.
Failure to follow those statements could be permit violations.
Many of the complaints came from neighbors as far as a mile away. County Clerk Abbie Mace, who lives about 1 1/2 miles away from the Desert Oasis, said she can hear noise from the place at her house on busy weekends.
The Oasis permit allows 75 RVs, a convenience store and an RV dump.
The property owner is listed as Desert Sands Enterprises, a limited liability company with an Ashton address.
Romrell asked Hibbert to find out the names of the owners and invite them to a commission meeting to talk about compliance with their permit for the RV park.
"I think we need to get the owners in here and let them know we could revoke their permit" for noncompliance, Romrell said.
That meeting tentatively has been scheduled for Nov. 2 at 10:50 a.m.
http://www.rexburgstandardjournal.com/articles/2009/10/20/news/30.txt
ST. ANTHONY -- Last week a group of people who live near the Desert Oasis recreational vehicle park at the St. Anthony Sand Dunes loudly protested to the Fremont County Commission about the exuberant partying that occurs when huge crowds gather there.
This week the commission called together officials that might be involved in addressing the problems to talk about resolving the complaints.
"On big holidays, there are huge amounts of people out there, cases of beer stacked high and Sobe bombs thrown in the fire with glass flying," Commission Chairman Paul Romrell said, repeating the complaints of the Egin area residents. "This goes on all night."
The RV park is private property, so patrols by law enforcement are out of the question until there is a specific complaint. And when the cops do show up, the noise and partying stops until after the cops have left.
Romrell says the rumor is that the Sand Hills Resort on the other end of the dune is "regulated," so the place to party is the Oasis.
A video of exploding propane tanks and "Sobe bombs," (glass bottles with a small amount of gasoline in them) in bonfires are posted on You Tube under the title, "Blowing stuff up at the St. Anthony Sand Dunes," though it is unclear where at the dunes the video was shot. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVAlI9n9atE) YouTube lists it as being uploaded two years ago.
Complaints have been lodged with law enforcement for some time, but last week was the first neighborhood group effort to get the partying under control.
Romrell asked if the county could adopt some sort of permit system to regulate large gatherings.
Prosecuting Attorney Joette Lookabaugh reminded him of right to freedom of assembly in the Bill of Rights.
"Let's not even go there," she said.
While law enforcement seems stymied in its efforts through the criminal code, the county has leverage to act through its land-use permits and codes.
Fremont Planning and Building Department staff have looked up the Class 2 permit for the Desert Oasis RV Park and matched it to what has been occurring at the park during major holidays and other summer weekends and discovered there may be compliance issues.
Having commercial rentals and tent camping with no facilities, as well as moving the convenience store from the original site plan location, are potential violations of the permit, according to Planning and Administrator Kurt Hibbert.
During the course of the discussion, county officials watched the YouTube video of Sobe bomb explosions and viewed out aerial photos of the site on the county's map server program to see how land use had changed from 1992 to 2004 to 2006.
Planner Joshua Chase says the property owners signed permit documents stating that noise would be contained after 11 p.m. and the solid waste would be collected and removed.
Failure to follow those statements could be permit violations.
Many of the complaints came from neighbors as far as a mile away. County Clerk Abbie Mace, who lives about 1 1/2 miles away from the Desert Oasis, said she can hear noise from the place at her house on busy weekends.
The Oasis permit allows 75 RVs, a convenience store and an RV dump.
The property owner is listed as Desert Sands Enterprises, a limited liability company with an Ashton address.
Romrell asked Hibbert to find out the names of the owners and invite them to a commission meeting to talk about compliance with their permit for the RV park.
"I think we need to get the owners in here and let them know we could revoke their permit" for noncompliance, Romrell said.
That meeting tentatively has been scheduled for Nov. 2 at 10:50 a.m.
posted by Crowdog at
9:38 PM
<< Home