(Dec. 15, 2016) Plans are proceeding to transform the 437-acre Bay Club on Libertytown Road west of Berlin into a camping and RV resort, as attorney Hugh Cropper, representing the Carl M. Freeman Companies, ran through some of the details during a Berlin Mayor and Council meeting on Monday.
Whether the property eventually becomes annexed into the town is something that has yet to be decided and will likely not become an issue for some time, as plans remain very much in the early stages.
Cropper was in Berlin, along with a small army of engineers with expertise and knowledge of the project, fulfilling an earlier promise to keep the town informed ahead of any activity at the county level.
A hearing was set for Dec. 8 at the Worcester County Board of Zoning Appeals to ask for a special exemption to establish the campground, but that was postponed “so that [the developer] could speak with the Town of Berlin regarding the project first,” according to County Zoning Administrator Jennifer K. Keener.
Cropper said the proposed use of the property was a 434-unit rental campground. He said it was zoned A-2, which allows for a rental campground, but is somewhat rare – roughly present in about 2 percent of Worcester County.
He said the Bay Club was in the designated growth area adopted by the county in 2007 and was designated as an area to be served by the county water and sewer plan. An onsite sewer and treatment plant would be built, and effluent would be sprayed on remaining golf holes – 18 of the existing 36 would be kept if the conversion went through.
Cropper compared the request for a special exemption to the first step in “climbing a set of stairs.”
“This is the first step I have to step on,” he said. “If I don’t get this step there’s no need to go any further. This is preliminary. This will be vetted [and] it will be the subject of public hearings.”
He promised a “first-class campground” and said the campers would be the only ones to have access to any amenities there. By law, Cropper said, the property would have to be closed for five consecutive months during winter, bringing the impact on the town virtually to zero during that period.
Addressing traffic concerns, Cropper, admitting he was “not a traffic engineer,” guessed a campground would produce less congestion than a busy golf course. Moreover, he pledged that any promotional material for the eventual campground would encourage motorists to take routes that largely avoided Berlin proper.
“Why are we here? We’re here as a good neighbor,” Cropper said. “Right now we don’t need anything from the mayor and city council. We’re here as a neighbor to present our project and let you take a look at it.
“This is a great project, great property owner, it’s going to be an asset to the county. I think it would be an asset to the Town of Berlin,” he added. “I think this would be a great property in the future, after it’s vetted, after it’s explored, after it’s studied, to possibly … have annexed into the town of Berlin.”
Summing up, Cropper said the campground would produce a “high hospitality tax … the vast majority of which goes back to the municipality” and would have “very little impact on your public services.”
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams compared the situation to a “very sophisticated dance” and said the town was all for increasing the economic base of “not only of our town, but of our region.”
However, he cautioned, “it’s very important for us the annexation factor is extraordinary” and said there were lingering concerns about campers crossing through town on the way to Route 50 “in a way that’s practical and safe.”
“We have been at the forefront, for years, of this entire concept of smart growth, of building around existing infrastructure,” Williams said. “We hope that this will be an ongoing discussion.”
Councilman Zack Tyndall pointed out that the property was not listed in the Berlin comprehensive plan, adding, “I don’t know where this necessarily fits into the puzzle.”
Cropper countered that the comprehensive plan still had the word “draft” stamped onto it. As an anecdote, he said a farm that he owned was listed as “intense urban development” in the document.
“This is essentially out of your comp plan and I respect that, which is why I said, right off the bat, I’m going to keep you in the loop and come back and talk about annexation if that’s the town’s desire,” he said. “I don’t want to sound corny, but we don’t want to be here unless the town wants us.”
Whether the property eventually becomes annexed into the town is something that has yet to be decided and will likely not become an issue for some time, as plans remain very much in the early stages.
Cropper was in Berlin, along with a small army of engineers with expertise and knowledge of the project, fulfilling an earlier promise to keep the town informed ahead of any activity at the county level.
A hearing was set for Dec. 8 at the Worcester County Board of Zoning Appeals to ask for a special exemption to establish the campground, but that was postponed “so that [the developer] could speak with the Town of Berlin regarding the project first,” according to County Zoning Administrator Jennifer K. Keener.
Cropper said the proposed use of the property was a 434-unit rental campground. He said it was zoned A-2, which allows for a rental campground, but is somewhat rare – roughly present in about 2 percent of Worcester County.
He said the Bay Club was in the designated growth area adopted by the county in 2007 and was designated as an area to be served by the county water and sewer plan. An onsite sewer and treatment plant would be built, and effluent would be sprayed on remaining golf holes – 18 of the existing 36 would be kept if the conversion went through.
Cropper compared the request for a special exemption to the first step in “climbing a set of stairs.”
“This is the first step I have to step on,” he said. “If I don’t get this step there’s no need to go any further. This is preliminary. This will be vetted [and] it will be the subject of public hearings.”
He promised a “first-class campground” and said the campers would be the only ones to have access to any amenities there. By law, Cropper said, the property would have to be closed for five consecutive months during winter, bringing the impact on the town virtually to zero during that period.
Addressing traffic concerns, Cropper, admitting he was “not a traffic engineer,” guessed a campground would produce less congestion than a busy golf course. Moreover, he pledged that any promotional material for the eventual campground would encourage motorists to take routes that largely avoided Berlin proper.
“Why are we here? We’re here as a good neighbor,” Cropper said. “Right now we don’t need anything from the mayor and city council. We’re here as a neighbor to present our project and let you take a look at it.
“This is a great project, great property owner, it’s going to be an asset to the county. I think it would be an asset to the Town of Berlin,” he added. “I think this would be a great property in the future, after it’s vetted, after it’s explored, after it’s studied, to possibly … have annexed into the town of Berlin.”
Summing up, Cropper said the campground would produce a “high hospitality tax … the vast majority of which goes back to the municipality” and would have “very little impact on your public services.”
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams compared the situation to a “very sophisticated dance” and said the town was all for increasing the economic base of “not only of our town, but of our region.”
However, he cautioned, “it’s very important for us the annexation factor is extraordinary” and said there were lingering concerns about campers crossing through town on the way to Route 50 “in a way that’s practical and safe.”
“We have been at the forefront, for years, of this entire concept of smart growth, of building around existing infrastructure,” Williams said. “We hope that this will be an ongoing discussion.”
Councilman Zack Tyndall pointed out that the property was not listed in the Berlin comprehensive plan, adding, “I don’t know where this necessarily fits into the puzzle.”
Cropper countered that the comprehensive plan still had the word “draft” stamped onto it. As an anecdote, he said a farm that he owned was listed as “intense urban development” in the document.
“This is essentially out of your comp plan and I respect that, which is why I said, right off the bat, I’m going to keep you in the loop and come back and talk about annexation if that’s the town’s desire,” he said. “I don’t want to sound corny, but we don’t want to be here unless the town wants us.”