LAKE VERMILION- In the ongoing dispute over zoning regulations between Rough-N-It campground operator Christine Wyrobek and St. Louis County, the two sides voluntarily agreed on July 31 to dismiss an action in the Minnesota Court of Appeals regarding a requirement for an environmental assessment worksheet, or EAW, for the Black Bay property.
Wyrobek has continued to rent out campsites this summer, as evidenced by ads on the Rough-N-It Facebook page and numerous positive reviews on Airbnb. Wyrobek has continually maintained that the campsites are allowed under her interpretation of the zoning regulations, while the county begs to differ. County officials sent letters to Wyrobek in March and April “identifying that these uses are occurring without the benefit of a permit,” according to Planning and Zoning Director Ryan Logan.
“The county does not have permits on record allowing for short term rental or commercial uses at the site,” Logan said.
Wyrobek’s appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision to require the EAW was based on what she termed “multiple errors and oversights” in the commission’s approval process for her initial rezoning and conditional use permit applications for the proposed campground, as detailed in the initial filing registered with the Court of Appeals in December 2023. Wyrobek and fellow petitioners Lance and Kari Kuhn, who own one of five parcels that make up the property in question, argued in the filing that because the Planning Commission denied a rezoning application in May and canceled the CUP application in June, the commission had no basis to approve the petition for the EAW in November as there was no plan pending for the property.
The original petition for the EAW was received by the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board on March 20, 2023, was signed by about 170 people, and asserted that the campground project had potential negative consequences for water quality and wildlife habitat, as well as generating noise and light pollution, garbage and ecological “vandalism.”
The next day in an email to the county Planning Department, Wyrobek volunteered to do the EAW, but was told “that this was not how an EAW works,” according to the court filing. The Planning Commission did not act on the EAW request before denying the rezoning application and canceling the CUP application.
In September 2023, Wyrobek filed a lawsuit contesting the denial of the rezoning and CUP applications, a suit that was later voluntarily dismissed in January.
The suit was ongoing in November when the Planning Commission decided to reset the process for the property and require an EAW, though no plan was pending before the commission at that time due to the earlier denials.
Court documents available online do not disclose any rationale for the voluntary dismissal of the EAW appeal, nor do they indicate if an EAW will still be required. The Timberjay was unable to obtain an answer to that question prior to press time.
Logan said the county is continuing to review compliance issues at the site, and the Planning and Zoning Department typically does not comment on ongoing investigations.