Big Woods Land Company Proposes RV and Primitive Campground for Wayne Township
LOCK HAVEN – The Clinton County Planning Commission, at an open-air meeting Tuesday evening, gave its approval to preliminary land development plans for Big Woods Campground.
Jim Maguire from Big Woods Land Company, along with project engineer Dennis Norman, shared plans for Big Woods 47-acre development just off the McElhattan Exit of Route 220, access off the nearby Reservoir Road. Big Woods wants to build a 29-space RV campground and an adjacent 20-site primitive campground. The planning commission gave unanimous approval to the plans which will include, in addition to the camping spaces, access road stabilization, an administrative/shower building and all utilities.
After the meeting, Maguire told The Record the hope is to have the facility up and running in a year. Noting that the location is the gateway to the Pennsylvania Wilds, he said there are “so many opportunities” with the site. He mentioned the many trail runs in the area, use of nearby land by the Dirty Dabbers, nearby UPMC and First Quality facilities and the potential for a new Geisinger facility near the McElhattan Exit of Route 220. He said the campground site will include a large pond for fishing, with about 18 acres of the site left undisturbed; much of the parcel is in the 100 year flood plain of nearby McElhattan Creek. No development is planned within the flood plain limits.
Norman said project plans have been submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Clinton County Conservation District. He said the plans are preliminary until those approvals are received.
The planning commission meeting was that body’s first since February. It was held in a pavilion adjacent to the county’s Piper Building.
The commission also gave a qualified approval to plans from National Fuel Gas to construct a new Tamarack compressor station in Leidy Township. National Fuel wants to build a 22-thousand horsepower compressor station along Stewart Hill Road. Project representatives said some 30 to 50 people would be employed during the construction. The station would not have any permanent employees upon completion, but would be checked manually daily, they said. It is hoped to have the facility in use by the end of 2021.
