Bedford County officials to ponder allowing Moneta campground

The Bedford County Board of Supervisors will review a zoning permit tonight that would allow a primitive campground on Stone Mountain Road near Moneta.

A proposed Camp Karma facility would consist of 37 campsites for tents and small campers, 11 tent campsites, eight sites with electric hookups for large campers and motor homes, a structure containing a bathhouse and campground store and other recreational amenities.

The land, located in the county’s District 2 area off of Virginia 122, is zoned Agricultural Rural Preserve, which requires a special use permit from county officials for operation of a campground. The parcel is 62 acres but only 41 acres would be utilized for the project, according to an application filed in the Bedford County Department of Community Development.

Nearly a dozen people spoke out against the project in August just before the Bedford County Planning Commission voted to recommend the permit’s approval. Many of them were neighbors with traffic and public safety concerns.

Linda Frisbee, the landowner and applicant, told the commission it would be an environmentally friendly operation that would be mindful of its surrounding neighbors. The campground would be developed in two phases, according to planners.

Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the project during its 7:30 p.m. meeting on the top floor of the county administration at 122 East Main St. in Bedford. Sign-up sheets will be provided to anyone wishing to speak.

Also tonight, supervisors could vote to authorize the county attorney to develop a lease agreement with Bedford Hospice House Inc. for land adjacent to the Bedford Group Homes on Falling Creek Road. The nonprofit is searching for a site to build a new hospice, which would be called Bedford House.

The board could also vote to schedule a public hearing on the lease agreement to get citizen input.

To view the agenda and related documents for tonight’s meeting, visit http://www.co.bedford.va.us and click on the Board of Supervisors.