Neighbors of 232 Klug Hill Road say they are not opposed to an RV park being built on the site.
At a Planning and Zoning Commission hearing last Wednesday, Lelah Campo, owner of Cozy Hills Campgrounds, said she would like to transform the property into an upscale RV campground.
The two residents who spoke at the hearing voiced a few concerns about such things as driveway width, site lines and digging of wells potentially interfering with private wells or septic systems, but had no other issues with the idea.
“I’d rather see that than 200 houses put up in there,” said Scott Arigoni, of 212 Klug Hill Road.
The commission held the hearing open, pending approval by the Inland Wetlands Commission, City Planner Jeremy Leifert said Thursday. He said he anticipates a decision by the Inland Wetlands next month.
The campground will consist of 92 sites on a small portion of the 360-acre property, said Ryan McEvoy, an engineer at SLR Consulting Engineers. Most of the sites will be for RVs and will be served by sanitary and sewer facilities, electrical pedestals and spigots for water.
The sites, which will not be visible from Klug Hill Road, will be accessible via a gravel drive and have gravel pads for the RVs, McEvoy said.
There will also be cabins available for rent, Campo said.
While the plan for the existing house on the property was initially to transform it into a store and office, Campo said that plan has been nixed. Instead, the home will continue in its current use as a rental and Air B&B.
Campo said the company had looked into the cost “to deconstruct that beautiful” house and convert it into office and store space and decided to keep it as it is. She said it was not uncommon for RV campgrounds to also offer high-end rentals.
“It’s a beautiful house and it will be a focal point and definitely set the tone for this project,” she said. “We think the property, the view, the setting, the house, just set the tone for that type of campground.”
Shooting for an upscale campground, Campo said the company is working with KOA Campgrounds, a national firm that runs campgrounds all over country, and was going with the highest standards in the industry.
She said they “did not want a cookie-cutter parking lot feel.”
Rather than a “wide paved expanse” with the same trees at each site, sites will be visually interesting, Campo said.
The plan is to construct the campground in two phases with 30 sites, some of which will have cabins, to be completed in phase one and the remaining 62 in phase two.
There will also be basketball, pickleball and gaga ball courts and a pool. Campo said the exact orientation of the courts will not be decided until phases one and two are completed.
A barn on the property will be converted into a rec center and a smaller existing building will be a café.
