A proposed RV campground at the privately owned Bellefonte Airport that has drawn objections from neighboring residents took a step forward on Tuesday night.
Benner Township supervisors voted 2-0 to approve a conditional use permit for the campground, which John Elnitski, whose family owns and operates the airport at 225 Snowbird Lane, said would include up to 100 RV lots on 30 acres along the northern portion of the property. Supervisor Kathy Evey recused herself from the vote because she owns property adjacent to Snowbird Lane and participated in an Aug. 7 public hearing as a citizen objector.
Supervisors attached 45 conditions to the approval, which they said are designed to address resident concerns about safety, noise, light, pollution and traffic.
“We have addressed as many possible safety issues as we possibly could to make this as community friendly as possible,” Supervisor Larry Lingle said.
A similar conditional use request was rejected twice by the township in 2021 and 2022, with the Board of Supervisors finding the plan did not meet open space requirements of the zoning ordinance as well as other regulations, as well as stating that credible evidence had been presented it would harm the general health, welfare and safety of the surrounding area. The Elnitskis appealed the decision, which was upheld in Centre County Court and a further appeal was dismissed by Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court.
The airport is located in the township’s agricultural zoning district, where campgrounds are identified as a permitted conditional use subject to certain criteria and reasonable conditions that can be imposed by the board.
Lingle and Supervisor Randy Moyer said they could not reject the current conditional use application because it corrected deficiencies from the previous proposal. The Benner Township Planning Commission, zoning officer and solicitor each said the plan meets the requirements of the zoning ordinance.
“We did talk to the solicitor. We can deny it, but … it will go in front of a judge, and we will lose,” Lingle said. “The bar is extremely high, and the chances of us winning that lawsuit are minimal if at all.”
Elnitski has said the campground would be intended for aviators visiting the area for recreational purposes, most notably for Penn State football games. Each campsite would include water and electricity hookups and some of the lots would have RVs or other dwelling units permanently on-site. The plan — which Elnitski said after the meeting was conceptual and will be further developed — also includes a camp office and an internal road system.
The development, he added, would bring increased economic activity to the area.
Residents who spoke at the public hearing raised myriad concerns — from noise to the danger of having a campground close to the airport facilities to the possibility of campers intruding on neighboring residential properties. They also inquired how the application could be approved when supervisors said in 2022 that evidence was presented it would harm the health, welfare and safety of the community.
Solicitor Rodney Beard said the new application is “definitely different than the other ones.” Among the reasons, Beard said, is that it is no longer presented as “a Penn State tailgating venue park” but rather “a normal RV campground,” a comment that drew disbelieving jeers from the community members in attendance.
Among the nearly four dozen conditions attached to the approval is a prohibition on tailgating and loud parties.
He also noted that Elnitski provided an email from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation “saying that they felt any safety concerns could be addressed” during the development of the project. The project, he said, will require further approvals from state and federal transportation agencies.
Beard added that proving adverse affect on public safety is a high bar to clear.
“It’s a fairly high burden for objectors to meet because at this particular public hearing, the applicant did show that he met the criteria listed in the ordinance,” he said. “So, actually meeting the criteria that are listed in the ordinance, it’s difficult to reject it.”
In addition to prohibiting tailgating, conditions aimed at addressing residents’ concerns include security fencing around both the campground and airport facilities that is “equal to the fencing that surrounds the State College Regional Airport,” which must be inspected annually by an engineer paid for by the property owner and a report provided to the township. Openings must be electronically controlled gates with automatic closing and locking to prevent campground users from interacting with the airport or surrounding area.
Though Elnitski said a traffic engineers trip-generation report projected a maximum of 30 vehicle trips per hour, which would not warrant a traffic impact study, the supervisors included a condition requiring the study and for the property owner to construct any improvements that it may find are required. Elnitski also noted at the public hearing that he did not anticipate vehicle stacking issues, but any staging that would be needed for entry would occur entirely on airport property.
Elnitski is also required to provide an updated right-of-way agreement to address the use of Snowbird Lane for the campground. Evey suggested that would be an issue, though Elnitski indicated after the meeting it would not.
Landscaping at least 6-feet high will be required around the campground to screen it from neighboring residences.
The “general hours of operation” for the campground will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. No noise can be audible from the property and no vehicles will be permitted to enter or exit between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
While alcohol is not prohibited, it cannot be sold on the property. Tent camping also will not be permitted.
RVs not used for a period of 90 days are to be removed from the property. Vehicle fluids must be collected in a system that prevents environmental contamination; vehicle washing cannot be a “substantial portion of the activities carried on,” and RVs cannot be sold from the facility as part of the normal course of business.
The property owner will be required to carry general liability insurance of no less than $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate. Any reduction in insurance coverage will result in the shutdown of the campground.
Other conditions also address stormwater management and requirements that any use of private water supply does not affect residents’ water supply.
The conditional use approval, which requires the lot be developed substantially the same as it was described to the supervisors, is valid for two years, and if it is not constructed in that time the approval will be void. If use of the campground is discontinued for 12 months after operations commence, the conditional use approval will be declared void and a new application required.
The project still has a number of steps before it can move ahead including review by Centre County planning, aviation and stormwater approvals, the transportation study and approval of a land development plan
Residents on Tuesday raised additional concerns, such as whether there should be a prohibition on firearms at the campground.
While Beard said he did not believe that specifically could be addressed during the land development process, he expected other concerns would be.
“There will be a whole host of concerns that will come later, in addition to the conditions that the supervisors made,” Beard said,
