A conditional use hearing in Benner Township to approve the construction of a campground at the Bellefonte Airport was continued to next month after public concerns pushed the hearing past its allotted time on Monday.
A standing-room-only crowd attended the meeting and, township secretary Sharon Royer said, there wasn’t enough time to get through everyone’s comments.
The proposed plans for the campground show 60 RV spaces, 40 tiny home spaces and a 2,500-foot clubhouse, which would be developed in the farm field adjacent to the airfield.
The airport at 225 Snowbird Lane has been around since 1967 and is owned by Marina Elnitski.
Manager John Elnitski said the campground would serve people who fly Centre County visitors into the airport for sporting events or sightseeing and provide them a place to stay in close to proximately of where they landed.
“That way, they don’t have to rent a taxi and find a hotel. They just fly in, land and walk to their lodging,” Elnitski said.
Airport officials plan on partnering with Maison Lodging LLC to construct the “glamor camping” campground, which Elnitski said is a term the company likes to use when planning to construct a campground such as this.
A group of concerned citizens has started a website, saveSRW.com, in opposition to the campground. The group represents residents living along and near Seibert Road, Raymonds Lane and Willow Bend Drive, which all neighbor the airport.
“This community does not want hordes of drunk passerbys, loud parties, higher pollution and unsafe traffic conditions coming through our town, all while lowering property values beyond our control,” SRW wrote on its website. Language on the site also questions the legitimacy of the partnering company.
The 43.49-acre property is listed in the township’s agricultural zoning district under the pending zoning ordinance. Campgrounds are conditionally permitted in that zoning district, and supervisors may vote to put certain conditions, such as quiet hours, when approving the plans.
The public hearing will continue on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.
This story appears in the Aug. 5-11 edition of the Centre County Gazette.
