RV manufacturers are selling record numbers of RVs but the number of campgrounds and campsites to accommodate them is not rising as rapidly. This is no longer news. But a new trend could be adding to an even greater shortage of campsites available to road-wandering RVers. Though this could be bad news for RVers, the trend could be good news for tiny home owners.
For example, the owner of Egg Harbor River Resort, a New Jersey campground, has now opened up the campground to tiny home owners, says Paul St. James. The 84-year-old owner of the property wants to bring a West Coast trend to the area: He wants it to be a place for tiny homes, where people can live for longer periods of time than just for a few days. He currently has two tiny homes on his property, and he’s hoping to put about 60 more there.
Tucked in the woods behind towering trees and along the Great Egg Harbor River lies the secluded campground community. Park model resort homes line the mini-community of Egg Harbor River Resort, along with ponds, a swimming pool, grass-lined roads, and open spaces.
Tiny homes, a trend captured on TV series such as FYI’s “Tiny House Nation,” have been popping up around the country, offering people a place to live that doesn’t take up more than a few hundred square feet.
The idea wouldn’t change St. James’ current campsite model, it would just offer people a new experience on the grounds that sit about 10 miles from Ocean City.
A tiny home can’t be placed [just] anywhere – you have to go to a prepared site, he said, such as a campground. There’s no need for a building or a construction permit since it’s not considered a permanent residence.
Peter Miller, the township administrator, said there would be no problem with having tiny homes on the property at the resort as long as they continued to operate with the same number of sites for which they are licensed.
Using a tiny home on a campground doesn’t present a problem as long as they are renting within the regulations of the campgrounds, he said. The property would continue as a camp model.
Well camping World should be given a star or three. But how about charging a lesser amount for electric and or water than $20. But a reduction is better than nothing so cudos to them. I have stayed there many times be t to the speedway. Very convenient. Pray for our fellow Rvers as well as all others that are in harms way. Homeless, older ones, police and all responders.