BANDON, Ore. -- A state agency has rejected plans for an RV park next to a wildlife refuge on Oregon's south coast.

The developer, however, vows to get the project approved.

The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals has sent back to Coos County officials the proposal to create a park for 179 recreational vehicles, along with a convenience store, caretaker's residence and recreation center on half of a 42-acre parcel on the east side of U.S. 101.

The development also includes plans for a boat launch, fishing piers, a floating dock and a tackle and rental shop.

Neighbors argued that the development was too dense and urbanlike, that it would affect the viability of the adjacent Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge and that the sewage treatment proposal wasn't viable.

The planning commission and county commissioners, however, approved it.

But the state board agreed with the neighbors about the nature of the development and the sewer systems, saying both required exceptions to statewide planning goals.

"I'm extremely pleased with the LUBA decision and perhaps folks who thought that Friends of Bandon Marsh was just another whacko environmentalist group will realize that we had very legitimate concerns," said Dawn Vonderlin, one of the opponents.

Project Manager Jan Sirchuck said the company, Indian Point Inc., remains committed to an RV Park on the parcel.

"We're obviously disappointed that it went the way it did," Sirchuck said Tuesday. "But we're not going to abandon the project. We have six or seven years invested. We're just re-evaluating what this means and how to approach the remand and we're going to address the issues that LUBA brought up."