New Rv Park near the mothership

[RKins]

Good luck on the RV park. Unfortunately it does look like it will be a parking lot though. I don't know what the break even # of sites is but if losing 2-3 per row and re-spacing the remaining sites per row might give everyone more room and might make your CG more appealing.
I agree with the other comments and for me, good water is a must in that area - city water or filtered water to remove the rust is a must. Playmoor on the other side of Nappanee is decent except for the water.

[Tedj101]

Originally Posted by FLSteve

Great idea Steve. Should keep you and Jenelle busy for a while. Looking forward to staying there. Just a few items that bug me from time to time.

1) On the utility hook-ups, keep the water hose bibb connection at least 18" off the ground. I have been to some parks where it's too low and makes hooking a hose up to it very hard.

2) Try and lay out the sewer hook-ups so they can be reached with a 10' - 15' hose. I always like that by not having to get out my hose extension. Yes, I am one that still uses the old fashion 3" sewer hose.

3) A good WiFi system is always good.

4) An online reservation system is great, so you don't have to call to make a reservation.

5) Angled sites are nice. If 90 degrees, make sure roads are wide enough like some have mentioned already.

6) When you pull into the park it's always nice to have a long un-hooking area if possible.

FLSteve

I agree with all of Steve's points and would add a couple.

Angled sites both make it easier to access the site and make it less likely that people using the site will get off the concrete and mess up the site for you.

Wifi is nice, but good cell service is just as important - especially for people with large coaches. You can't control the cell service, but I would check out what is there already and, if it is not so good, try to encourage the cell companies to improve service. One way to do that is to suggest that you would be willing to have a cell tower on site. Getting cell towers approved is always difficult for the cell companies, and it is the lifeblood of their business.

Make sure that there is sufficient drop from the pad to the sewer access point. S**t runs downhill, not up. (I actually had this last fall at a site where we stopped on our way home to empty our tanks for the last time of the season which is a critical time for us. The campground was built on the side of a hill and it had sewer access points in between every other site so the person on the lower side had to send their sewage uphill and over an extensive distance.)

If you have ever been to one of the Hearthside Grove facilities, they do a lot of clever things to differentiate the sites from one another. Site differentiation isn't cheap, but if you are catering to Newmar owners, neither are they...

If you are expecting to be open all year, you will want to plan for that when designing the water system. It is much cheaper to do that initially than to try to retrofit. Given the proximity to Newmar, staying open all Winter might be a real working possibility. I recently was at the factory for service and if there was a campground nearby (i.e. within a couple of hours driving time) I would have stayed there on my way in and on my way out.

I hope this works out for you! It's aways good to see a new facility that is big rig friendly.

<TED>

[Winger2]

Looks good. Love the entry area with room to unhook and temp park by the office. Some great suggestions here. You will get many suggestions, some good some not.
My only thought is to move the pool closer to the office. This way the office personnel can monitor it on occasion. Not as lifeguards but cut back on any mischief. If it is left as designed, I would put a camera system in to monitor it.

Good luck and best wishes with your venture.

[Norm Mac]

Steve & Junelle; Your vision, energy and enthusiasm never cease to amaze me. Best of luck on this project.

[shepardmike]

Originally Posted by STEVE-JUNELL

what would be a good size for the pickle ball court? This is just what the designer added I appreciate your input.

34x64 for a standalone court.

[Algoma]

Go to USAPickleball where they have a manual on how to construct courts.


From a personal perspective, I would like to see ADA sites close to the office/pool and a lift for the pool itself.

[Bigceasar]

Curious as to your marketing plan. It appears your location is too far from an interstate to be an overnight park. Google maps didn’t show any major attractions adjacent to your site.
I doubt a pickleball court, a pool and a playground is enough to attract seasonal guests. And one pickleball court may create more problems than solutions. The last thing you want is to have an amenity that is always so busy most guests can’t use it. I would think if you don’t have three or more courts you would be better off with none. And the previous comment about noise is spot on, Pickleball is annoyingly loud and sites close to the court might be almost unusable .
You mentioned rallies, but from a continuing business perspective they are few and far between and don’t attract nearly enough guests to be a major source of income.
There are RV park consultants who can do professional traffic surveys and give you a good idea if there is potential for a park as large as you are planning to be successful. You are looking at a multi million dollar investment, spending ten or twenty thousand for a professional assessment and advice would be money well spent.

[twogypsies]

It's only 15 miles from Newmar and 25 mi. from Shipshewana. There appears to be a lake in town.... is it usable for boating, fishing? That would be a draw for even those from Fort Wayne. It seems like a nice vacation spot for those that don't need big city life.

As to the pickleball court(s), I agree, since I play it, that it's too noisy to be next to someone's lot. Even as popular as it is if placed too close to homes in a residential there have been many town objections. Two courts would be mandatory at least. Some small towns paint lines for multi-use for both tennis & pickleball.

Perhaps carving in a park-like area next to and behind the office, pool, playground and a buffer area from sites would work. Court sun screens dampens the noise somewhat. Have the playground and pool closest to the office and then the courts behind the office with a window to check on it. That would eliminate some noise. This would probably entail removing some sites as a buffer. Pickleball is very popular.

[Bigceasar]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

It's only 15 miles from Newmar and 25 mi. from Shipshewana. There appears to be a lake in town.... is it usable for boating, fishing? That would be a draw for even those from Fort Wayne. It seems like a nice vacation spot for those that don't need big city life.

As to the pickleball court(s), I agree, since I play it, that it's too noisy to be next to someone's lot. Even as popular as it is if placed too close to homes in a residential there have been many town objections. Two courts would be mandatory at least. Some small towns paint lines for multi-use for both tennis & pickleball.

Perhaps carving in a park-like area next to and behind the office, pool, playground and a buffer area from sites would work. Court sun screens dampens the noise somewhat. Have the playground and pool closest to the office and then the courts behind the office with a window to check on it. That would eliminate some noise. This would probably entail removing some sites as a buffer. Pickleball is very popular.

15 and 25 miles is a significant distance away if those two places are your actual destination. I don’t know about the lake, but for it to be a significant draw for RVers the park would either have to be lakeside or the lake be a major recreational lake with things like marinas, waterside dining with dock access etc.
The site plan looks like there are 200 to 300 sites. To make such a big investment profitable they will likely need 20,000 or more camper nights. That’s a tough challenge with no major attractions.

[patgreenair]

Originally Posted by Bigceasar

15 and 25 miles is a significant distance away if those two places are your actual destination. I don’t know about the lake, but for it to be a significant draw for RVers the park would either have to be lakeside or the lake be a major recreational lake with things like marinas, waterside dining with dock access etc.
The site plan looks like there are 200 to 300 sites. To make such a big investment profitable they will likely need 20,000 or more camper nights. That’s a tough challenge with no major attractions.

I totally agree, it's all about LOCATION..LOCATION..LOCATION!

[STEVE-JUNELL]

Sounds like we need more pickle ball I think we could accommodate 3 courts I did not think about them being annoying to close by guests. There is also a very nice pickle ball facility a mile away in Syracuse as well. I was thinking it may be like a playground some guests don’t want to be near it and others want to be right beside it.

My thought with the pool in the back is to incorporate another set of bathrooms and laundry, we will also have a hot tub not in the drawing we will have cameras monitoring it as well as security

I like the idea of large dog small dog park and I think we will do artificial grass in the dog park and playground

Our sites will be 50’ wide to not make it feel cramped each one will have a shade tree and some landscaping, and a fire pit

Syracuse a mile away has lots of great restaurants 2 very large lakes with a marina and boat rentals there is a great bike trail that runs around the lakes

There are a lot of Rvs in northern In and there is not an upscale resort with in an hour and a half of us. The closest one is sun resorts gun lake formally hidden ridge which is packed every weekend, and in the middle of nowhere. With nothing close by. There are a lot of people like us that would love to camp but still have to run in to work on Saturday and 1.5 is to far to drive back. We will have city water and sewer.

[Bigceasar]

I can’t say I agree with your premise that people will load up their RV, drive an hour and a half, set up their RV in their site and then have to drive for the limited amenities in your area. I just don’t see a few restaurants, a trail around a lake and some boat rentals as sufficient to draw the number of guests needed to make a park the size you are constructing profitable.

Good luck

[STEVE-JUNELL]

Originally Posted by Bigceasar

I can’t say I agree with your premise that people will load up their RV, drive an hour and a half, set up their RV in their site and then have to drive for the limited amenities in your area. I just don’t see a few restaurants, a trail around a lake and some boat rentals as sufficient to draw the number of guests needed to make a park the size you are constructing profitable.



Good luck

I appreciate your honest opinion

[RMD3819]

You likely thought of some of these but here goes...

-The number one thing I look for in a park is ease of getting in and out. This includes trees and other turning obstructions like poles, signs, big rocks etc. If I struggle getting in I worry about getting out and it detracts from my stay.

-Dump station?

-Dog park to include water.

-All sites 50A FHU and this includes 20A additional outlet.

-I really like the combo utility posts that Newmar has.