The Bismarck City Commission voted 3-2 on Oct. 27 to uphold a city zoning notice and order against an RV dealer's lot on East Main Avenue, according to the meeting's minutes posted by the city. The lot must stay clear of campers and other inventory until the company builds out the site as city zoning requires, according to a Planning Department staff report in the commission's Oct. 27 agenda packet.
The property is a 78,708-square-foot parcel at 5215 East Main Avenue, at the southeast corner of East Main and 52nd Street NE, owned by NoDak Recreation LLC, according to the staff report. The report says sales take place at a separate company property at 1429 Burlington Avenue.
Planning Director Daniel Nairn determined that the lot was being used to store inventory while sales took place at another location, and that storage is classified as Industrial Group A, a use the zoning ordinance allows only in the MA and MB industrial districts and not in the parcel's CG commercial zoning, according to the staff report. A notice and order issued July 13 gave the company until Oct. 11 to either clear the lot or move its sales there and complete required site work: an approved site plan, paving, stormwater management and landscaping, including a buffer yard on the south side, the report says.
The city's Board of Adjustment unanimously upheld that order on Sept. 3, according to draft minutes of that hearing included in the board's Nov. 5 agenda packet. At that hearing, the company's owner said the items on the lot were inventory for sale or to be sold, that he believed the zoning interpretation was incorrect because he was using the site for overflow inventory and sales, and that he planned to develop it as his primary dealership but needed more time, the draft minutes say. A city code enforcement officer verified Sept. 28 that all stored items had been removed, and the order was rescinded Oct. 2, the staff report says. The property stays in compliance only if no campers, inventory, business assets or signs return before that site work is finished, it adds.
At the Oct. 27 meeting, the company's owner told commissioners he had bought and begun using the property as a secondary RV dealership based on the city's initial guidance that the use was allowed, later removed inventory to comply temporarily, and could not keep the business closed while paying for the required upgrades, according to the minutes. He said he has submitted site plans, intends to begin construction in spring 2027 and asked to sell from a temporary office meanwhile, the minutes say.
Staff told the commission its only choice was to affirm or overturn the zoning interpretation and notice, and said the company chose to proceed under the city's older Title 14 rules, which require the site plan and all improvements, including a permanent office, before operations resume; the new Land Development Code zones the parcel Commercial Mixed Use, which allows vehicle sales by special use permit but not storage, according to the minutes.
Mayor Schmitz moved to uphold the order and said the company could still seek a special use permit through the Planning and Zoning Commission with conditions that might allow temporary operation until construction is done, the minutes say. Commissioner Doll seconded, and Commissioners Hull and Doll and the mayor voted yes. Commissioners Connelly and Risch voted no. Connelly said government should not handcuff people trying to run a business, and Risch said he did not believe the planning director erred but did not want to take an action that could effectively put the applicant out of business, according to the minutes.
A previous owner asked in 2025 to rezone the property to conditional industrial zoning to allow outdoor storage, and the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously denied that request in February 2025, according to the staff report. Much of the parcel lies within a Special Flood Hazard Area, the report notes, and a code compliance case was opened in July 2025 after a complaint about RVs stored there.
The Board of Adjustment's Nov. 5 agenda packet does not include an item for the site.
Sources: Bismarck City Commission minutes, Oct. 27, 2026: https://bismarcknd.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=5764,plainText=false); Bismarck City Commission agenda packet, Oct. 27, 2026 (Planning Department staff report APPL2026-001): https://bismarcknd.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=5758,plainText=false); Bismarck Board of Adjustment agenda packet, Nov. 5, 2026 (draft Sept. 3 minutes): https://bismarcknd.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=5766,plainText=false)
