NORWAY – Residents of Wiley Road joined the Planning Board on Thursday for a walk on property where Brad Boos of Harrison wants to create a 30-lot campground.
The Harrison resident owns 40 acres and hopes to draw older people who are looking for a place to set up a camper or RV for the summer.
“I don’t want a big party going on up here,” Boos assured neighbors, “The idea is more of a calm, laid-back place for people to come and spend the summer.”
Boos would set up a trailer in the lot nearest the access road to serve as his office.
There would only be one permanent structure on the site, a shower house and restroom which would be served by a septic system and power generator.
State law, according to Boos, doesn’t require an engineered sewer system for properties, including campgrounds, that produce less than 2,000 gallons of waste a day. The code would allow use of a septic system if the campground has fewer than 33 lots.
Boos said he will look into running electrical wires into the property, but won’t do it if costs are restrictive.
A floodlight over the door of the shower house and a single bulb over the doors of each restroom could easily be powered by a generator, he said.
“Most RVs and campers have generators now, anyway,” he added.
Roads into the property are already in place, as are culverts and ditching, mostly created by the property’s former owner, Don Holden.
Planning Board member Dennis Gray noted a need for turnouts, to direct water off the main access road, and possibly more culverts and ditching.
“Obviously, I’m going to have to put a better surface on it,” Boos said of the access road.
A neighbor driving a pickup truck to the site had to stop halfway up the steep, dirt road and back down to build up momentum before making it up the hill.
Neighbors estimated that Holden logged the property about 20 to 30 years ago. It is now thickly wooded with young birch, with moss underfoot and the occasional blackberry.
Boos would clear a 40- by 50-foot space for each of the 30 campsites, leaving 3 to 4 feet of growth between each lot to cut down on noise.
Two of the proposed lots would be within 250 feet of a seasonal stream.
According to state law, each would be a minimum of 10,000 square feet.
“It should be pretty low impact on everything,” Boos said, “because if it doesn’t work I might want to put a house here.”
He said plans to leave enough growth between the campsite and the neighbors to cut down on noise and maintain privacy.
Wiley Road resident Mike Marshall told Boos that he was in full support of the project, but was concerned about more use of the road.
The lot can be accessed from the direction of either Route 118 or the Greenwood Road. Coming from Route 118, there is almost a mile of dirt road leading to Boos’ property. In the other direction, there is about half a mile of cracked and worn pavement.
Boos noted that since the campground would be seasonal, there would only be added traffic on Wiley Rd in the summer “when it’s in the best shape.”
Gray said the next step for Boos is a request to be put on the Planning Board’s agenda for its Aug. 25 meeting.
If his application is complete then, a public hearing will be scheduled.
After the public hearing, the board will assess whether Boos’ application complies with all relevant ordinances. The entire process could be finished within a month.
Boos said he does not plan to begin work until next summer.
If all goes as planned, the campground would open in the summer of 2007.
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