AMESBURY — The town will not object to a plan that would bring hundreds more campers to the shores of Tuxbury Pond, the town's water supply, saying proposed sewer upgrades at the site might clean up the water leading to the town's pumping station.
The plans, which were released to the town's Planning Board last month, include 211 new sites and 13 already approved sites alongside the Powow River and Tuxbury Pond, a flood plain created by an Amesbury-controlled dam on Newton Road.
Currently the campground, owned by Jason Russo of Tampa, Fla., has 274 lots situated on 78 acres of land in South Hampton and three-quarters of an acre in Amesbury. A representative for Russo is expected to make a formal presentation before the South Hampton Planning Board tonight at 7:30.
Abutters have opposed the project, citing the fact that the town's population already doubles on a busy weekend due to the campground, bringing with it noise, boat traffic, litter and pollution on the small, secluded river. It has also become a regular summer stop for the town's small police department.
But Robert Desmarais, Amesbury's director of the Department of Public Works, said the campground's plan to update their out-of-date septic system could actually benefit the cleanliness of the water the town is drawing from.
Desmarais said the campground's current septic system is Tuxbury Pond's biggest pollutant. Such pollutants are removed during the water treatment process.
"The septic system is the largest source of pollution in that lake. I think the expansion will have a net positive impact," Desmarais said. "There is not much I can do about more people in the lake."
Amesbury officials will be present at South Hampton's Planning Board meeting tonight, but Demarais said unless the expansion plans have changed, the town will not object to the campground's plan.
While Amesbury is on board, some South Hampton residents and officials are rejecting the idea of more campers entering their town. When the campground reaches peak season, the population of the campground outnumbers the entire population of the town, which is fewer than 900 residents.
Swimmers, motor boaters and canoeists use Tuxbury Pond as their personal summer hideaway, sometimes with little regard for residents or the environment, campground neighbors said at last month's meeting.
Ruth Early, a South Hampton resident who owns 43 acres on the Powow River that borders the campground land on the south side, hired lawyer Stephan Nix from Gilford, N.H., to help block the expansion. Early's concerns are about preserving the waterfront. On a warm summer night, she can regularly hear music from the camp and said she witnesses littering.
South Hampton police Chief Jonathan Dennis reported only three burglaries in the town's 2008 crime activity statistics, all of which were reported from the campground. The department has had to begin extra patrols through the camp in the summer to help ensure public safety.
"If there are at least four people on a site, that more than doubles the population of the whole town. It does affect us," Dennis said. "We have patrols down there, and there is a large number of incidents because there is a large number of people down there, and a lot of them are there for pleasure."
Last year Dennis said some Amesbury abutters had also complained about noise. He also reported a group of 25 Canadians who illegally camped along a road leading to the campground.
"From our point of view, we are going to handle what happens. The stricter they get down there and the more security they put in, the better," Dennis said. "It's a great site if people follow the rules."
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