Campground Porch Enclosures Approved By 4-3 Vote

SNOW HILL — The Worcester County Commission passed an amendment allowing the installation of thin plastic porch enclosures in cooperative campgrounds by a narrow 4-3 margin this week.
The amendment, submitted by attorney Mark Cropper on behalf of Bali Hi campground, has been in the works for months. It received a negative recommendation from the county’s Planning Commission earlier this fall but was still introduced by the County Commission. The version of the amendment discussed this week is a revised version from what Cropper submitted at his first meeting with the commissioners.
This amendment was changed to answer concerns put forth both by the commissioners and by Ed Tudor, director of Development Review and Permitting.
“I’m hopeful that this most recent edition that I submitted to you this morning not only addresses all of the concerns that I heard at the last hearing, but the memorandum from Mr. Tudor and then the comments that I’ve heard from various commissioners recently,” Cropper said.
Much of the revised amendment concerns the size of the plastic panels allowed and some safety issues. Currently, porches in cooperative campgrounds are only allowed to use insect screening. Now they will be able to install “soft plastic framed enclosures” no more than .01 inches in thickness.
Also added to the amendment is the mandatory requirement of at least one smoke detector on the porch should it be enclosed as well as the need for at least one exit directly from the porch to the outside without having to re-enter “the recreational vehicle, recreational park trailer or cabin.”
“Those are two supplements, safety provisions, not in the present code, that would be required if you wish to use this,” Cropper said.
Some commissioners were still left with worries over the possibility of creating a fire hazard, however. Commissioner Merrill Lockfaw pointed out that, while Cropper’s amendment requires at least one exit from the porch to the outside, it doesn’t require that the RV or camper the porch is attached to have an exit that would bypass the porch.
“These trailers do not have, in all trailers, an exit door on the opposite side from the porch, so, if you wake up and there’s a fire on that porch and you can’t exit from the porch, where are you going to get out of that trailer?,” Lockfaw said.
The majority of commissioners apparently felt that fire safety was adequately addressed, however, voting 4-3 in favor of the amendment. Commissioners Judy Boggs, Louise Gulyas and Lockfaw were opposed with Gulyas labeling the decision “the biggest can of worms we have ever” opened.