Hinsdale ZBA Hears Northgate RV Resort Proposal, Continues Hearing to December 14

HINSDALE — December 1, 2021 — Hinsdale Zoning Board opens contentious public hearing on proposed 317-site RV campground at former Camp Emerson. ZBA Chair Jeff Viner convened the December 1 hearing on an application by Northgate Resort Ventures, LLC for a special permit to convert 212 Longview Avenue into a commercial RV resort with 317 campsites, 100 of which would feature Northgate-owned rental RVs. Attorney Jeffrey Scrimo argued the proposal qualifies as a "commercial summer camp" under Section 4(R5)(2)(E) of the town's 1979 zoning bylaws, relying on Merriam-Webster dictionary definitions; opponents — including Camp Ramaca director Jeffrey Saltz, who has operated his adjacent Longview Avenue summer camp since 1995 — countered that state sanitary code 105 CMR 430 and 105 CMR 440 draw a clear legal distinction between children's recreational camps and developed family campgrounds. Town peer review engineer Dave Prickett of DPC Engineering flagged three unresolved concerns: the town's Belmont Reservoir access easement must carry no campground service connections, a proposed grinder pump sewer system poses corrosion and odor risks downstream, and water and sewer connection fees remain unsettled. The Select Board holds a right of first refusal on the property, priced at $5.3 million, and had not yet acted on it as of the hearing date. The board suspended the hearing unanimously and will reconvene December 14, 2021.