Camp Rainbow Gold, an area nonprofit that serves children with cancer and their families hoped to make a permanent home on a 1.8 million dollar, 260 acre land donation in Ketchum, but now they said they are giving up on the site.
Last year a conditional permit for the camp was denied by Planning and Zoning. They attempted to appeal the decision, but earlier this month they said they were notified their appeal had been denied.
“We voted as a board not to file for reconsideration,” explained Camp Rainbow Gold Board President Amanda Watson.
Watson said the decision was extremely difficult. They had been working towards a permanent camp on the property for around three years.
"We had no idea we were going to be met with such aggressive pushback from the neighbors,” said Watson.
She said when the county commissioners told them their application had been denied, they didn’t see any way the project could move forward.
“We really didn't feel like they considered our application based on merit. It was really a decision based on politics and it was really disappointing to us,” said Watson.
The land was a donation from a longtime supporter. While they are not sure what will happen with the land now, they are confident the longtime supporter will continue the quest to help the nonprofit, along with all of the other supporters they have gained along the way during the trying process.
“For as much opposition that there has been there’s been triple support,” said Watson.
Now, they said they are still committed to finding a perfect permanent home for Camp Rainbow Gold, but while they scout for land, they’re going to continue to focus on their mission.
"That’s our number one goal to to make sure that we are still delivering at a very high level our programs and services,” said Watson.
