Humboldt County planning commissioners want staff to revise proposed rules for small-scale camping on private rural lands before the ordinance moves to a formal hearing.
At an Aug. 20 workshop, staff presented the Aug. 12 version of an inland low-impact camping ordinance developed under Assembly Bill 518. The state law allows counties to permit low-impact camping on qualifying private rural lands, and the county agenda described the meeting as a workshop for commissioners to hear public comment and provide guidance before a public hearing.
The draft would require parcels of at least two acres and allow up to one accommodation per acre, with no more than nine accommodations per site and four recreational vehicles. It also includes 14-night consecutive-stay and 28-night annual limits per camper, a 200-foot buffer from off-site residences, a 30-foot property-line setback, quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and sanitation, fire-safety and solid-waste requirements. The proposal would not allow generators.
Staff told the commission that the Aug. 12 draft already reflected changes made after earlier agency and public input. The draft shifted from requiring the property owner to live on the property to requiring residence within Humboldt County, changed the manager requirement to 24-hour phone availability and required operators to address cell-service or other contact access. Staff also replaced a proposed requirement for campsites to be within a two-acre residential building envelope with a requirement that they be in a pre-existing disturbed area, with biological review potentially required outside such areas.
Other changes included removing a proposed 180-day limit on portable toilets while staff continued work with Environmental Health, easing shared-road access requirements from roadway Category 4 to Category 3, and reducing fire-suppression water for sites allowing campfires from 2,500 gallons to 500 gallons. Staff said the draft retained a generator prohibition because of noise and potential fire hazards and agreed to add a provision that campfires would require an on-site manager.
Public commenters and commissioners questioned whether biological studies, road work, sanitation systems and other requirements would make small operations financially impractical. Commenters also raised concerns about cell service in remote areas, permitting costs, generator restrictions, owner-residency rules, composting toilets, RV definitions and enforcement. The Humboldt County Farm Bureau said it supported reasonable protections but wanted the regulatory burden and costs to match the small scale of the proposed operations.
The commission did not take final action on the ordinance. Instead, it directed staff to return with a revised draft for another workshop and additional public comment, with the continuation set for a date to be determined. The county’s meeting record does not identify a date for that next camping workshop or a later formal hearing.
