Black Bear Campground Proposal Discussion Continued with Warwick Planning Board
Water use could be pivotal.
By Chuck Dill
At this week’s Warwick Planning Board meeting, August 21, an MJS Engineering representative, representing the Black Bear Campground sites new owner-developer, made a brief presentation about the project, to be called Serenity Ridge at Warwick. The project would expand the number of campsites from 74 to 130, to be occupied by units permanently parked there, as illustrated above. The Board addressed the project at a previous meeting.
The Board discussed some changes or improvements in the screening of the project from the neighboring property, including new additional fencing with fabric and additional trees. The board thanked the developer for the improvements and noted that since these changes constitute a change to the site plan, those changes will have to be formally improved by the board.
Then the board reviewed written questions submitted by interested parties. The majority of the time was spent responding to or discussing questions asked by James McAteer relative to the proposed project.
Questions related to a variety of subjects, such as:
1. Does the proposed project constitute an improvement to the site or will it be seen to have a negative impact in the eye of the board?
2. An electronic monitoring system will be installed at a new front entrance gate. How will that system keep track of the people entering the project? Response from board: That system is still being developed.
3. How many visitors will be allowed to come to each individual site per day? The answer was eight. Also, each site will have a limit of eight full time occupants.
4. How will the Board hold the owner responsible for the actions of the various people who will occupy the campground? Answer: When a site occupant breaks rules, the owner will be held responsible by the local court. If controlling rules are broken numerous times, these occurrences will be brought to the attention of the Board when the annual renewal of the site permit is reviewed. If the site owner's permit is not renewed, all the occupants will have to remove their individual units. If the owner does not respond to the board's closure of the site, the owner will be fined $500 per day until the Board is satisfied that the site is in compliance with the permit.
5. The trailers to be installed at the various campground sites are not standard house trailers and do not individually hold a red plaque indicating that they meet the definition of house trailer.
The following questions and suggestions were posed to the Board by meeting attendees:
Is there a lifetime limit to the structures to be placed at each site? If not, these structures, which are on wheels, may not be able to be removed by the individual site occupants or the project owner in the event that a structure is abandoned by the individual site occupant. The commenter recommended that an age limit of perhaps 19 years be applied to the project site permit. Board members commended the idea.
The project owners should be required to show that the project does not have a negative impact on the Village of Florida.
What is the status of the storm water runoff permit of the site? Response from the board: A storm water permit has been filed and Warwick engineers have determined that the proposed site does meet the requirements of the Town of Warwick.
Can an individual site occupant rent out his “home”? The answer is no.
The existing property development plan does not address onsite parking by guests. Response from the Board: The developer will update the site plan to address that issue and will submit revised plans to the Board for review.
What is the status of testing the existing site water well to determine if that well can supply all the water required by a fully occupied campground? Answer: The well will be tested by drawing down the water in the well while also monitoring and recording the water level in private wells within a fixed radius of the site well. Access to those wells will have to be granted to the town by the individual owner of the well. If removal of the amount of water required for the test causes an adverse impact on the wells being monitored, the project may not be permitted.
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