Shelters, camping, boating will cost more at these Sedgwick County parks

Sedgwick County is raising its camping, boating and shelter rental fees, and cracking down on long-term camping at Lake Afton Park.

Previous rules allowed campers to spend up to 300 nights a year at the lakeside campground. Now, they’ll be limited to 56 nights a year.

“We want to consider Lake Afton Park as more of a local recreation park and less of a residential park,” Assistant County Manager Tania Cole said Wednesday.

New regulations approved by the County Commission will require campers to vacate park property for at least five days after every 14 days of camping or face a $75 fine on first offense.

That and other changes to the park policy, including increased rental rates and stricter penalties for some violations will go into effect on June 14. Cole said fee increases will keep county parks in line with similar recreation facilities and account for higher operating costs.

Shelter rental fees are increasing by roughly 10% at both Sedgwick County Park (from $60-$275 a day to $66-$300 a day) and Lake Afton Park ($50-$200 a day to $55-$220 a day).

Boat permitting fees at Lake Afton are rising from $5-$7 a day to $7-$10 a day.

Camping permits for both primitive and electric campsites are also going up by about 15%. Daily primitive camping rates will climb from $11 to $13 and weekly rates are increasing from $66 to $76. Daily electric camping permit rates are rising from $15 to $17, and the weekly rate of $90 will increase to $104. The monthly electric camping permit option is being eliminated.

The daily water fee for campsites with a water hookup will also increase from $2 to $2.50.

Commissioner Jim Howell said he’s concerned the county hasn’t done enough to communicate camping limits and rate changes to people at Lake Afton who are accustomed to camping there throughout the summer and much of the year.

“It’s less than a month from now when this will start. It’s not giving some of these folks very much notice,” Howell said.

The county parks department will publish a list of regulation and penalty changes on entrances and exits to park properties between now and when the amended policy goes into place on June 14.

Commissioner David Dennis said he receives more calls and emails from constituents related to park conditions than just about anything else other than property taxes.

“They’re concerned about trash at the park. They’re concerned about people that live at the park. It has deteriorated as a result of some of the uses that it’s being put to,” Dennis said.

Cole said roughly 460,000 people visit Lake Afton every year and over a million visit Sedgwick County Park annually.

The amended park policy adopted Wednesday also shortens shelter rental availability to 9 a.m.-9 p.m. from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. and establishes a $500 fine for littering on park property or disposing anything in litter receptacles at parks other than “waste, rubbish, garbage or ashes arising from the normal use of County-owned parks.”

The late payment fee for campers with expired permits is increasing from $5 to $7.50 a day.

The county is halving the amount of time a campsite can be left unattended from 48 hours to 24 hours unless written notice is given to the park superintendent. The superintendent will remove all personal property from unattended campsites and store them for up to 30 days. Campers will be charged a $30 removal fee and an additional $2 for every day their property is stored.

The county also moved to limit the number of camping vehicles to one per campsite and to disallow extra trailers on campsites except those used to carry boats and other watercraft.

Sedgwick County Park shelter rental fees

Lake Afton Park shelter rental fees

Lake Afton camping permit fees

Lake Afton boating permit fees