The Town has reviewed a portion of an email sent to
campers by Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.,the
owner of the Tuxbury Pond RV Resort, stating that the current camping season
will end on October 15 due to a “mandate” by the Town. The Town is providing the following
information to clarify the Town’s “mandate.”
The
Town’s campground ordinance, in its current form, was approved by vote at Town
Meeting on March 11, 2014. The ordinance
states, in part, that the “camping season shall be from April 15 through
October 15. No campground may be
occupied during off-season.” Since
passage of the ordinance, the owners of the campground have not consistently
closed the campground as required by the ordinance. During the recent Covid emergency in 2020 and
2021, the owners requested that the Town, through its Board of Selectmen,
permit the campground to have a modified camping season from May 1 through
October 31. The Board of Selectmen
approved the temporary change for those camping seasons due to the special
circumstances of that emergency.
Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. did not
consult with Town officials prior to executing the campground leases for the
2022 camping season. After the camping
season commenced on May 1, 2022, representatives of the campground’s owners did
approach the Town to inquire as to the process for changing the campground
season to May 1 to October 31 for the 2022 season and thereafter. Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. was advised
that it could apply for a variance for the 2022 camping season and/or place a
petitioned article on the warrant for the Town Meeting in March 2023 to amend
the campground ordinance. The owner did
not apply for a variance for the 2022 camping season.
In
September 2022, the Town sent a notice to the Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.
advising it that there had been no request or application for a change to the October
15th closing date for the 2022 camping season. The Town then agreed to meet with the owners
to discuss the closing date and other issues regarding compliance with a prior
settlement agreement between the parties. Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.’s
response to the Town’s proposal from that meeting was to advise the Town that
it had notified all campers that the camping season ends on October 15.
In
summary, the Town did not issue a “mandate” to the campground’s owner to close
on October 15, 2022. The camping season
has been defined by Town ordinance since 2014.
Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. was aware of the process for modifying
the dates of the camping season, but took no action to do so. Questions regarding campers’ agreements with
the Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. should be addressed to it, not to the
Town.
