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RV park owner looks to endure trouble
Published December 9, 2007
SURFSIDE BEACH — A 40-foot motorhome roared through Surfside Beach on its way to Galveston.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” said Troy McMinn, owner of Gulfbreeze R.V. Park, a work in progress. “That is a half-million dollar R.V. and it’s coming and going because there’s nowhere for it to park in Surfside.”
A few seconds later, and another large motorhome rolled by his tract along Bluewater Highway.
“There’s another one,” he said.
Regardless of the demand, an improperly issued permit and fears R.V. parks become havens for drug users has put the Gulfbreeze at the center of a struggle in Surfside Beach.
As a result of this, and satisfying the requirements of mitigating the land for commercial use, McMinn’s project has met delay after delay.
“It seems like I’ve become a target,” he said.
Quagmire
McMinn’s beachfront property is little more than bulldozed sand and crushed limestone at the moment. He hopes to turn the 500-foot wide tract into a park for high-priced motorhomes as soon as possible.
He held off work on the site after City Hall was made aware of an oversight in sight in the issuance of a conditional-use permit. Council decided to set a public hearing and notify his neighbors of the permit, a state law requirement, after then-City Secretary Kelly Hamby realized it had not been done when the original permit was issued.
“I don’t necessarily have a problem with the R.V. park itself, just the way the city approved the permit,” said Gary McBeth, who brought the oversight to City Hall’s attention.
City Council soon realized it had another mistake on its hands.
In issuing the permit, council members came into conflict with ordinance 97-17, which limits the number of RV parks in the city to the four already in the village.
As soon as they brought up the error in the November meeting, they came close to overturning the ordinance. Even considering that course of action was “crazy” to former planning commission member Louis Ediken. That issue was tabled.
Council will consider killing Ordinance 97-17 during its meeting Tuesday.
McMinn has presented a way for council to put the permit issue to bed. His idea is for the village to make an ordinance including R.V. parks in the allowable use for commercial zone, City Secretary Lisa Bailey said. Council will debate this and have the public hearing on his park during January’s meeting, she said.
Until council has the opportunity to vote it up or down again, the permit stands as originally approved. McBeth said the permit should be thrown out until it is reapproved correctly.
“It was illegally issued and should have been rescinded,” McBeth said. “I’ve got nothing against Mr. McMinn, but that is how it is supposed to work.”
In any case, McMinn said he stopped work to avoid spending anymore money on the property in case the permit is not approved. He isn’t waiting any longer.
Buy low
“I’ve held off for a few months after they started the whole permit process over again. That’s fine,” McMinn said, standing in the soft sand of his lot. “My patience is wearing thin.”
He bought the land for $500,000, with a loan payment of $5,000 a month, he said. The construction so far has cost $40,000, and he said he will spend an additional $100,000 before the park is complete.
The previous owners of the land bought it in 1946 for $200, he said.
When McMinn purchased the tract, one of the only undeveloped commercially zoned properties along the beach, he said he didn’t expect or want any controversy.
“This is not what I wanted,” McMinn said. “I just had an idea and saw the need. This is what modern R.V.-ers want— large pull-through sites.”
McMinn said he spent two weeks in July sweating on the controls of his rented bulldozer. He had to push the dunes back onto the beachfront, creating a wall of sand dunes between his lot and the line of vegetation.
He also mitigated the neighboring lot, owned by Richwood developer Gary Bullard. Although McMinn mitigated his lot for him, Bullard said he had nothing to do with Gulfbreeze R.V. Park and that he only had a casual acquaintance with his neighbor.
“I’m neither for or against it,” Bullard said.
Some residents were alarmed that council would want to approve an R.V. park in the city, saying they attract and fester criminals. They also questioned whether it was more valuable to the city’s tax base to build several homes rather than an R.V. park.
McMinn said his park will cater to wealthier R.V. owners who are much less likely to present any problems. Many of the vehicles that will pull into his park will be worth many of the homes in Surfside Beach, he said. It will cost R.V. owners $42 a day to park in his park.
His original plan of 38 R.V. pads was reduced to 15 large pads to allay concerns his park will become a criminal haven, McMinn said.
“The modern R.V. owner is taking two- to three-day vacations,” McMinn said. “If you expand that out, say to two or three hours away, look at how many populated areas that covers,” McMinn said.
Sell high
McMinn has lived in Surfside Beach for 25 years, developing multiple properties throughout the city. He served on City Council before resigning after his wife’s death in 1998.
McMinn was attracted to the lot while sailing offshore of Surfside Beach. He saw an open gap next to Stahlman Park, and all the other beachfront properties already had been developed, mostly into residential lots.
He said it is only a matter of time before developers start gobbling up commercial tracts for prime development. He hopes the land draws an attractive offer. In the meantime, he hopes his R.V.-owning customers will defray the high cost of property taxes and net him some profit.
“I’ve already gotten offers for the land,” McMinn said. He is waiting for a number with one or two more zeros.
“I could probably get $1.5 million for the tract before too long,” McMinn said. “It’s not about cashing out. I’ve had the opportunity to do that for a long time now. I may sell it sometime in the future — just not yet.”
He is waiting for city sewer lines to be built out to the property. Until then, no major development is likely to happen. As soon as the tract is hooked in to city sewer lines, his asking price should skyrocket.
“When we have city sewage out here, there will be a hotel out here,” he said. “These developments are going to come whether this freaking government wants it or not.
“That boat ramp they are building has the closest access to the Gulf on the Texas coast,” McMinn said. “The question is whether we are going to capitalize on it or get left behind.”
Hunter Sauls covers Surfside Beach for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 237-0153.
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