A company’s proposal for 90 year-round portable micro-cabin campsites in a rural part of northwestern Frederick County was greenlighted by the Board of Supervisors last week.
Getaway House Inc.’s conditional-use permit (CUP) request to allow the company to operate a micro-cabin campground on 430 acres close to the border with Berkeley County, West Virginia, was approved on a 6-1 vote. Chairman Charles DeHaven was the lone dissenter.
The property, located at 427 McCubbin Road (Route 653) in the Gainesboro magisterial district, is in a heavily wooded area with steep slopes and other natural features, according to county documents.
A new condition of the CUP added after the previous board meeting prevents the property owner from severing transferable development rights or subdividing the property.
“About 95 percent of the land will remain untouched, and with this new condition, I am in favor,” said Gainesboro Supervisor Heather Lockridge.
Launched in 2015, Getaway House Inc. has 15 “outposts,” or campgrounds, offering “simple escapes to nature within two hours of major cities across the country,” according to the company’s website. The company operates two sites in Shenandoah County, one of which has 42 tiny cabins.
Getaway House Inc. officials have said the company will pave and widen McCubbin Road to address increased traffic.
