The developer of a controversial RV park planned at the junction of routes 2 and 164 near Connecticut’s Avery Pond has revised the plans to eliminate any activities in or near the pond as well as all disturbances within a hundred feet of wetlands surrounding the pond.
Blue Water Development Corp. has proposed a $25-million campground and RV resort, dubbed Blue Camp CT LLC, on three parcels owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The plan has been amended multiple times to address concerns raised by residents as well as the town’s engineering consultants.
In the most recent revisions outlined by the project attorney Harry Heller in a three-page letter to the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission, the project won’t disrupt any wetlands around the pond within the 100-foot buffer zone, which falls under the jurisdiction of the commission.
The proposed T-shaped dock in Avery Pond has been eliminated along with nine safari tent sites on the banks and the elevated boardwalk which could have taken campers to safari campsites. There are 22 campsites taken off the plans, and the road system has been altered to stay clear of the buffer zone.
The project would now include 280 campsites. There would be a welcome center; three bathhouses; a swimming pool; and tennis, volleyball, squash, and bocce areas. The roads and parking areas would be made of gravel, with the exception of the area surrounding the welcome center, which would be paved.
The chairman of the Wetlands Commission, John Moulson, said the project requires approval and review by the commission since there are wetlands located on the property. The commission will look at aspects like stormwater management and erosion plans needed to safeguard the wetlands.