Camp Zion Appeal Denied

Camp Zion Construction. Photo by Myles Dannhausen Jr.

Opponents of the 12,000-square-foot dining hall and conference space under construction at Camp Zion in Ellison Bay were turned back by the Door County Board of Adjustment during a hearing Dec. 12. 

The BOA voted 5-0 to deny the appeal of a conditional-use permit (CUP) issued to Camp Zion by the Door County Land Use Services Department. The appeal was brought by Mike Bahrke on behalf of a group of neighbors who have long opposed the expansion of the religious camp located near Door Bluff Headlands County Park. 

Camp manager Dale Stewart said the 150-seat dining hall is needed to serve its campers and replace the cramped 94-person hall they have used since the mid-1980s. 

“Our desire is to be relevant, desirable and sustainable for many more years,” Stewart said.

The hall has been under construction since last spring, and Stewart estimates that it is now 66% complete. It is located on land that is zoned Heartland 3.5, allowing for uses such as camping facilities, community centers and retreat centers with an approved CUP – which Camp Zion obtained in a settlement with the county last winter. 

Bahrke and neighbors have argued that the building is out of scale with the surrounding properties and could be located elsewhere on the property with a lesser visual impact. In 2020 the county’s Resource Planning Commission (RPC) agreed, denying a CUP for the camp. But Camp Zion argued in federal court that locating the facility farther from its main camp facilities would put an undue burden on campers with disabilities, requiring them to be bused to the dining hall because of a steep slope between its main facilities and where the hall would be located.

On Sept. 30, 2021, the RPC went into closed session and emerged to vote unanimously to accept a settlement agreement with Camp Zion. The agreement allowed the project to continue without the required variance Camp Zion had initially sought to build the structure closer to Door Bluff Road than county setback requirements allowed. It also granted the necessary CUP for the project.

Bahrke and neighbors filed suit against the county for failing to follow the law and its own administrative rules when it entered into the settlement and issued the building permit and CUP without a public hearing.

A judge agreed, and the county held a new hearing for the CUP in August, which was approved Aug. 31.