The Lower Towamensing Township Zoning Hearing Board approved Getaway House Inc.’s request Tuesday night to allow for a campground along Wintergreen Road.

The company had requested a special exception to the zoning ordinance in March in order to change the use of the property to a campground. The section of the company’s 190-acre property allotted for the campground is zoned rural conservation. A campground is a permitted use in a rural conservation zone.

Another section of the property not involved in the campground is zoned R-1 for low-density residential.

The company’s entire property lies between Forest Inn Road and Walnut Drive. Wintergreen Road runs through the property. The campground will straddle both sides of Wintergreen Road.

James Ord, the chairman of the zoning hearing board, read a list of conditions Getaway House must follow:

• Quiet hours will be from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.;

• All campfires must be extinguished by 10:30 p.m.;

• There will be an on-site manager 24/7;

• Maximum number of camping persons is four;

• No units can have more than two bedrooms;

• Maximum length of stay for guests is seven days;

• No common areas for gatherings of all visitors;

• No outside personal RVs, campers, and or tents are permitted;

• No ATV’s or dirt bikes;

• No mobile homes can be placed on the property;

• No amplified sound is be permitted on the premises;

• No sound is allowed to extend beyond the property boundary;

• No fireworks are permitted on the premises;

• No guns or hunting is permitted on the premises, and;

• No alcohol is allowed to be sold on site.

Getaway House is also required to keep the maximum number of camping units to 77, and locate them in accordance to the plans. If they want to expand in the future, they have to get approval from the zoning hearing board first, Ord said.

They also must provide signage to keep guests from entering adjacent properties and keep it maintained, as well as place a vegetation border of evergreens along property lines where residential structures are present.

The zoning hearing board requires them to follow the recommendations of the Aquashicola Fire Department provided to them in a letter from the fire department, and follow all state, local, and federal laws.

Ord said the purpose of the length of stay condition “is to prevent this from being converted into some type of long term development.”

Tom Katelhon, an engineer from Kimley Horn, said the next step for Getaway House is to submit the land development plans. He didn’t have a timeline for when they campground will be ready to take reservations.

As for the ruling, Katelon said he knows the company is “really excited to be a part of this community.”