Plans for controversial campground return to Benner Township. Some residents unhappy

Four years ago, plans for a campground at the Bellefonte Airport were brought to Benner Township. But after widespread resident pushback and a failed court case, a conditional use permit was unable to be attained for the potential attraction.

Now, the plans are back, and not everyone’s enthused to see them.

The plans were presented to the township’s planning commission Thursday by airport manager John Elnitski in another attempt to secure a conditional use permit for the project. They’re “basically the same” from when they were first submitted in 2021 and display a 30-acre, 100-lot campground, complete with 60 RV spaces and 40 “tiny home” spaces to be located at 225 Snowbird Lane.

The spaces would be located on the northern side of the property, and aircraft parking aprons with tie-downs and taxiways would be located on the southern end. Each site would offer a water and electricity hookup, and a clubhouse/camp office with bathrooms would also be located on the grounds.

According to Elnitski, the campground would primarily cater to aviation enthusiasts who’d like to fly into town for a Penn State football weekend, bringing a larger amount of economic activity to the Bellefonte area. But the last time it was up for discussion, the township’s supervisors denied the project’s conditional use permit request on the grounds that the plan didn’t contain the necessary amount of recreation space to meet a mandatory ordinance.

Following the supervisors’ action, the Elnitski family appealed the denial of the permit, taking the township to court. The case eventually worked its way up to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, where it was dismissed on the basis that the supervisors weren’t given enough time to properly review the proposed recreation areas, Elnitski said Thursday.

Despite the case costing the township more than $32,000 in legal fees, the Elnitski family is back and seeking another shot at the project, starting with the obtaining of a conditional use permit — an objective that took its first step of many Thursday when the commission recommended the permit’s approval to the township. Still, one commission member didn’t mince words about her thoughts on the plan.

“To be honest with you, I think it’s a terrible idea,” commission member Lynn Chaplin told Elintski Thursday. “I understand that if it meets all the necessary requirements, we’ll have to pass it onto the supervisors, but I just think it seems so unfair to the people living in that quiet residential area [in front of the airport].”

Despite Elnitski’s rebuttal that his “airport engineer thinks its a great idea,” Chaplin furthered her critique of the campground, sharing concerns on how the site would be reclaimed if the venture failed. She also mentioned increased noise and light/air pollution levels, higher volumes of both automobile and air traffic, and the overall safety of the residents living near the site — criticisms that were brought up at previous meetings involving the campground.

Chaplin also raised a concern about the quality of the fence at the airport that’s meant to stop any incoming planes at the end of the runway, sharing her belief that the fence was too weak to stop a moving plane.

A group of about seven township residents chimed in on the proposed campground too, with one sharing his disappointment in the plan’s lack of changes from 2021, reminding Elnitski of what township solicitor Rod Beard called the project when the appeal was filed — “injurious to the health, safety and welfare of the community.”

“That was a weak argument,” responded Elnitski, who then went on to share that the campground would be operated like any other found in a state park — with quiet hours, a limit to how many guests could stay at a campsite at a time and a possible seasonal guard to enforce all rules.

While many in attendance at Thursday’s meeting disliked revisiting the idea of the campground, commission member Willis Houser said tentatively that if done correctly, the campground would “fit nicely” into the township, and that “only time will tell” what the future holds for the contentious project.

Despite the many concerns, because the campground’s plans met all of the necessary requirements to obtain a conditional use permit, the planning commission unanimously voted to approve the recommendation of a permit onto the supervisors, although the plan still has a long way to go before any ground can be broken.

Next, the supervisors will discuss the campground’s potential conditional use permit at a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7. From there, if the permit is approved, the campground’s official development plans will have to be approved by the county’s planning commission, then by the township’s planning commission and supervisors.

If the campground gets the opportunity to go through those phases, Elnitski told the planning commission and residents Thursday that the plans could change drastically depending on the feedback given.

“[The campground] could go from 100 spaces, to like 50 or 80 spaces — it all depends on what we get told as we go through these meetings,” Elintski said. “It’s not going to go over 30 acres though, and it’s not going to go over 100 sites. ... It’s never going to get any bigger than that.”

Until then though, Willis urged all those who have concerns about the project to make their voices heard at the upcoming public hearing and at future meetings — if the project makes it that far.