WAYNESVILLE, N.C. — Waynesville officials unanimously banned new campgrounds and RV parks inside town limits in November 2020, saying the commercial activity would disrupt adjoining neighborhoods, according to an RV Life article.
Town leaders argued that the lights, traffic and late-night noise common to many parks clashed with residential streets that prize quiet after dark.
The vote followed the filing of a luxury RV resort plan for the Laurel Ridge Country Club. That single application became the catalyst for a sweeping ordinance that blocks similar projects. The ordinance placed an immediate halt on new campground and RV-park proposals, and the public record does not show any sunset date or mandatory review schedule.
Zoning administrator Byron Hickox reminded aldermen that any decision had to rest on measurable factors, not aesthetics, adding that opposition must be based on “tangible impacts,” not personal taste.
Those impacts, officials said, centered on three fronts: heavier traffic volumes, additional nighttime glare and the possibility of louder evenings as guests arrived or gathered outdoors.
Alderman Chuck Dickson summed up the anxiety, warning of an “influx of people and vehicles” that could erode neighborhood character almost overnight.
Board members also pointed out that Haywood County already hosts numerous public and private campgrounds, giving RV travelers plenty of choices without bringing commercial sites into the town proper.
For developers watching from the sidelines, the lesson is clear: proactive outreach can keep a proposal from ending in a moratorium. Hosting informal listening sessions and guided site walks before any permit filing builds trust with adjacent homeowners and uncovers local fears early.
Equally important is data. A professionally prepared traffic-impact statement, dark-sky lighting specifications, and a written quiet-hours policy presented in the first submittal package tackle the same traffic, lighting and noise issues that doomed the Laurel Ridge idea. Offering to create or maintain greenways or pocket parks on a project’s edge — and posting all plans, renderings and FAQs on a single website — further reduces rumor and resistance.
Design choices matter, too. A clustered pad layout wrapped in vegetative buffers hides RVs from sightlines. Permeable surfaces, native landscaping and bioswales reinforce a nature-forward look that feels less commercial. License-plate-recognition gates prevent road backups, low-profile signage and firm generator curfews shrink visual and acoustic footprints, and shuttle or e-bike programs chip away at car trips into town.
Several municipalities—including Loxahatchee Groves, Florida, and Francis City, Utah—have recently subjected RV-resort proposals to heightened scrutiny, suggesting Waynesville’s stance could foreshadow stricter reviews elsewhere.
Available records show the ban was still in place as of March 2022; its current status has not been publicly confirmed. Operators eyeing other markets can avoid the same fate by addressing neighborhood concerns up front — and by proving, with design and data, that outdoor hospitality can coexist with quiet streets. Whether Waynesville revisits its ban if a lower-impact concept emerges remains to be seen, but the playbook for winning approval has never been clearer.