Related

The Bedford County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing tonight on a proposal to dramatically increase the maximum number of nights that campers can spend in campgrounds.

The current county ordinance limits the number of nights to 30 per calendar year, but the proposed amendment would raise the limit to 180 days.

Tom Buck, owner of Mitchell's Point Campground and Marina on Smith Mountain Lake, approached the commission with questions regarding the ordinance earlier this year.

"It has never been enforced," he said. "I think it is sort of an oversight."

Bedford County's zoning ordinance was adopted in 1998 and modeled after Roanoke County's, according to Mary Zirkle, the county's chief of planning.

The county is in the process of revamping the entire zoning ordinance to reflect changes in the recently approved comprehensive plan.

Buck rents his campsites on annual contracts. He estimates 20 percent to 30 percent of his tenants stay more than 30 days per calendar year.

"If they are paying for it, they want the right to come and go as much as they want," he said.

At the same time, Buck does not permit anyone to set up a permanent residence at his campground.

"I don't want anybody to live here year-round or to receive mail here," he said.

Anne Kulina of Columbus, Ohio, and her husband, Frank, camped seasonally for years at Crazy Horse Campground in Franklin County until it was sold to condominium developers. Since then the couple moved their camper to Kay Knisley's Eagle's Roost Campground in Huddleston.

The Kulinas spend about three weeks of each month from April through October camping there.

"I don't know how a government can dictate how long someone stays in a campground when the individual is paying for it," Knisley said.

Eagle's Roost and Mitchell's Point are the only remaining private campgrounds on the Bedford County side of Smith Mountain Lake. The campground at Campers Paradise will close in November to make way for more than 200 waterfront condominiums.

The Bedford County Planning Commission meets at 7 tonight in the County Administration Building, 122 E. Main St. in Bedford.