Nudist Resort Given Approval Split Vote Huge Relief To Couple Who Started 75-Acre Resort Off Conklin Park Road

In a split vote Wednesday, Kootenai County commissioners approved a resort near Worley that hopes to cater to nude recreationists.

The 2-1 vote to approve Sun Meadow Resort was a huge relief to owners Tom and Linda Janson, who have sunk their life savings and retirement into the plan.

“I was pretty confident that they would do the right thing,” Tom Janson said of the commissioners. “I know (Commissioner) Ron Rankin was trying to find some reason to deny it because he has moral issues. “But if you look into it, the moral issues don’t come into play. I think we would have less moral problems if (the public) had better body acceptance.”

The Jansons have already started building their 75-acre resort off of Conklin Park Road, between Worley and Lake Coeur d’Alene.

The development includes 43 recreational vehicle hookups, 10 rental cabins and a 16,000-square-foot lodge with 10 rooms. The adjacent Sun Meadow Estates would include 16 residential lots.

The commission voted last year to approve the resort and subdivision. After that decision, critics of the plan discovered Internet advertising that indicated the Jansons had plans for a nudist resort.

Neighbors appealed the case, and 1st District Judge Charles Hosack sent the project back to the county commissioners, saying the Jansons had a duty to tell county officials about the “potential intended uses” of their property.

Rankin, who voted for the project last year, said he had concerns about the project’s impact on the rural area even before nude recreation became a factor.

On Wednesday, Rankin made a motion to deny the permits for the resort and subdivision.

“I believe because of the public perception of this (nudist colony) being a nuisance, that this would have an adverse affect on values of the surrounding property,” Rankin said.

Commissioner Dick Compton, who made the motion to approve the project, said he voted for the project the first time because it was a good plan.

“Then we found out they might be inclined to take their clothes off,” Compton said. “There is no evidence that property values would be reduced.

“My decision was based on the fact that the (planned unit development) met all the zoning ordinances.”

Commissioner Dick Panabaker said the project should be judged on whether it fits within county planning guidelines.

“There has been no nudity, no violation of state law,” Panabaker said. “The perception may or may not be there that this will be a problem.”

If any legal problems surface in the future, they will be handled by the courts, not by county planners, he said. Panabaker then seconded Compton’s motion to approve.

Janson hopes to have “clothing mandatory” family nights, corporate parties and retreats at the resort. The only nude recreation would come from the association members, he said.

The homes in the subdivision will not be part of the nude recreation facilities.

The commissioners visited the site last month to check the privacy aspect of the resort and to look at the already completed work.

Crews have planted about 6,000 trees around the subdivision and another 3,000 near the resort. Berms were also built to conceal the project.

Before any nude recreation takes place, Janson says he will finish the project and have it certified by the American Association of Nude Recreation.

Chuck Matheson, a Coeur d’Alene Tribal Council member, said he was disappointed with the commission’s vote.

The tribe fought the project based on land-use issues before the nudist colony controversy erupted.

“Our main concern was with Mother Earth. If you put a couple 100 people out there, obviously deer and elk won’t go there,” he said. “The only problem we had about the nudist aspect was that they weren’t up front with everybody.”

Janson said he planted clover and fescue and has recently seen more wildlife on the acreage than before they started building.

He hopes to have an open house in September to let neighbors and people in the Worley-Plummer area visit the resort.

Janson had hoped to open the resort next spring, but the appeal from its neighbors has stalled the project by more than a year.

“If their objective was to hurt us, they hurt us,” Janson said. “It cost a whole lot more money than legal fees. But we are still going to get it done.”