Written by Nick Purslow of Glampitect

When you decided to read a blog on zoning and permitting, you probably weren’t expecting the most thrilling read of your life.

We get it. Reading a blog on zoning and permitting and expecting a fun read is like attending a funeral and expecting a stand-up comedy show. Never gonna happen.

What we can do, however, is try to minimise the boredom and teach you something along the way. We’ll make it as short and snappy as we can, and hopefully we’ll succeed in our job of getting across how important this stage of starting a glamping business is, and how you can get to the other side safely.

A Quick Intro

This is a guest blog, written by Glampitect North America. We’re the turnkey solution for anyone looking to start a glamping business. We guide you through the whole process, ensuring you don’t make any expensive mistakes along the way.

Anyway, enough about us.

There are so many elements of starting a glamping business outside of zoning and permitting. You need to choose your glamping units, install utilities, set up your website and so much more.

We’ve written an ultimate guide on how to start a glamping business in North America - you should check it out.

But today, the focus is on zoning and permitting. An often overlooked aspect of the glamping site startup process, but one that simply can’t be ignored. Why? We’ll get into that.

What Is Zoning and Permitting?

First of all, these are two different concepts.

Zoning relates to how your city/county has designated your property, and what kind of uses are allowed on it. Permitting is the process of applying to your city/county for approval to build a glamping site (or any other kind of project) on your property. The reason we put them together is because they work in tandem. If you have the wrong zoning, there’s no real point in entering the permitting process. But if your zoning gives you a chance of building a glamping site on your land, you’re able to move onto the permitting stage.

Zoning - A Deep Dive

How does the zoning system work?

Across the US and Canada, every parcel of land is assigned to a particular zoning district. These zoning districts are decided at a local level (e.g. by the counties). Despite the fact that districts are decided and allocated by local governments, some types of district are present in pretty much every jurisdiction. Two examples of this are Residential and Industrial districts, which can be seen everywhere across North America.

Note: Some places, like Houston, don’t have any zoning rules at all. That’s a blog for another time!

Each zoning district has its own set of permitted uses. These are the types of development that are allowed within the district, and they’re generally aligned with the overarching purpose of that district. So, the permitted uses for Industrial districts will be related to industrial developments, while the permitted uses in Residential districts will generally concern homebuilding.

An issue for a lot of developers is that a lot of counties tend to adhere to their zoning rules pretty strictly. If your development type isn’t listed as a permitted use within your zoning district, you probably won’t be allowed to build on the property.

How does this affect my glamping project?

The nature of the zoning system means that a lot of prospective glamping site owners won’t be allowed to build a glamping site on their land. Their county zoning rules simply won’t allow for it. That’s why we always recommend checking your zoning before spending any money on glamping units or land redevelopment.

How do I check if my zoning is right for glamping?

We’ve written a full walkthrough on how to do this, available here. For those short on time, we’ll run you through a condensed version now.

The first thing you need to do is find out which zoning district your property falls under. This can be done by accessing your county’s interactive GIS map (simply search for it on Google) and entering your address on the system.

Once you know how your land is zoned, it’s time to find the permitted uses within your zoning district. For this, you need to access your county’s zoning ordinances (again, easy to find on Google), which list all the zoning rules and regulations for your county. There will generally be a “Permitted Use Table”, which will allow you to quickly find what uses are allowed on your property.

Quick note: you’ll never find “Glamping” listed as a permitted use. You’ll need to find something related to glamping, such as a “Campground”, “Camp” or “Retreat”. There will be a section of the zoning ordinances dedicated to defining all of the permitted uses within the county, so you can use that to decide which use best suits your needs.

If there are no suitable uses whatsoever, you now know that your project probably isn’t going to happen. This can be painful, but it saves you from wasting any further time and money on something that was never going to be approved in the first place. If there is a potentially suitable use, you can find out what kind of permit you’ll need to get your project approved. For most glamping-related uses, you’ll need something called a conditional use permit, or special use permit. This means you’ll have to apply to the county for permission to build, which leads us to the permitting stage.

Glamping Site Permitting

This is the big stumbling block for a lot of prospective glamping site owners. Having to convince your county that a glamping development is a good idea is no small feat. They might be skeptical because glamping is such a niche industry, and they’ll probably be under a lot of pressure from local residents to reject the proposal.

What’s required for a special use permit varies from county to county, but there are some requirements that are universal. At the very least, you’ll need to submit some professional drawings, detailing the layout of your site. You’ll also need to inform your county of how you plan to incorporate parking, road access, utility provision, noise management, and more. A permit application isn’t something that can be done in ten minutes.

How Can Zoning Research Affect the Permitting Process?

Let’s use a hypothetical example to explain. In this example, your county’s zoning ordinances allow for a “Campground” use on your property. However, according to the definition in the ordinances, a Campground requires a site manager to be present on-site at all times. This wasn’t in your original plan, as you intended to live five minutes away from the site.

Knowing about this rule before submitting your permit application gives you a huge advantage. It allows you to adapt your plans so they fit the ordinances’ requirements before you speak to the county. Alternatively, if you still intend to live away from the site, it gives you prior warning of what the county may come back strongly on when you submit your application. This way, you can have an argument ready for when the county refers to the rule about living on-site. For example, you could argue that providing emergency numbers and ensuring someone is always five minutes away is as good as being on-site.

So, as well as ensuring no further time and money is wasted on a project with the wrong zoning, doing your research can also improve your chances of acquiring a permit if you have the right zoning.

Conclusion

You made it! It may not have been stand-up comedy at a funeral, but we hope we didn’t bore you to tears.

Zoning and permitting is a pivotal stage of starting a glamping business that simply can’t be overlooked. Without doing the right zoning research and acquiring the necessary permits, you risk wasting your investment and having your operation shut down.

Don’t make that mistake.

Glampitect guide you through the zoning and permitting process, as well as all other aspects of starting a glamping business in the US and Canada. You can get started with us by emailing contact@glampitect.com or booking a call with one of our experts here.

Guide to Zoning and Permitting in the Glamping Space