Building my own group campsite

[bigbadbob17]

We recently purchased a 10 acre piece of land and I am looking for any tips or ideas anyone may have as I know I am not the first. The long term goal is to build a house on the property and use it as a retirement home, and a recreational home before that. The build is a few years out so I was hoping to put in a road and level out a spot that we could fit 3-4 RVs so we can use it as a group site. We would then put in a picnic shelter and then a well, power and septic system before the building. There is power at the property line as well as phone. We have scouted the lot and I think found the spot we would like to build, I will be meeting with a landscape architect this week to start that planning process. Anything i should be planning ahead for that isn't super obvious?

Tia!

[notanlines]

I believe your choice to involve an architect is wise. It might be even more so if said architect happened to be a little familiar with the demands of a full service RV setup. Pull-throughs, level, 50-amp service, water pressure and volume, ingress, egress; all things I'm sure you have mulled over in your mind. Most of us will be interested in keeping up with your progress!

[flybouy]

I agree that involving a architect early on is wise. I'd suggest vetting the architect's skills including familiarity with what you are seeking to accomplish and with the codes/laws of the governing authorities. It's always more economical to build it to code than build it and then change it to meet code. YMMV

[66joej]

I see you are in Edmonton,AB? so be sure to use the frost free anti-syphon water spigots if you are planning on using the facilities in the cooler weather.

[bigbadbob17]

Thanks all! Appreciate the Input, here is a link to a drone video of the area please ignore my brother's funny play by play lol

https://youtu.be/FaI8yh1x0Uw

[bigbadbob17]

It's actually outside of Salmon arm BC

[JRTJH]

I don't know what kind of "governmental restrictions" you might face in Canada. In Michigan there is a "state building restriction" followed by a "county building restriction" followed by a "township building restriction" and in some locations an additional "homeowner's association restriction'....

That said, we have 40 acres and I wanted to build a couple of trailer sites down by the lake, put in a well and septic/electric. My intention was to park my RV there in the summer when we're not traveling and to have a site for visitors with an RV to park as well. The county doesn't permit "campgrounds on private property" and defines a "campground as two or more sites". So, I could build a single unit facility, but without a zoning variance, I couldn't clear enough property for a second site.

Clearly, the county restrictions serve a purpose, to prevent commercial campgrounds from being built in "private, residential areas"... I agree with that, but sometimes the ability to legislate "common sense" into the "legal verbage" builds roadblocks that prevent land owners from using their land for their private purposes....

So, my advice would be to first be sure your landscape architect is familiar with RVing and not just a "dictionary definition of what's required for an RV"... Next, before making any specific plans, I'd check with the appropriate government agencies (there may be more than one) to be sure that your vision can be converted to reality without the government putting their restrictions on what you want to do. For us, they essentially mandated that I could only park ONE trailer on the 40 acres. If I subdivided it and sold my DW a parcel, then we could park TWO trailers, one on property owned by me, one on property owned by her. But then we couldn't claim the tax advantages on both pieces of property since only ONE homestead exemption is allowed per married couple.....

Seems "gotcha's" abound in government restrictions when it comes to making us pay to own and use what we own and use......

Do your homework before you start spending money on design and implementation......

[spade117]

I
Seems "gotcha's" abound in government restrictions when it comes to making us pay to own and use what we own and use......



^These things really irk me.

Good luck and I hope everything works out for you. We have a group of friends that have always been interested in something similar, so I'll be interested in the outcome.

[bigbadbob17]

^These things really irk me.

Good luck and I hope everything works out for you. We have a group of friends that have always been interested in something similar, so I'll be interested in the outcome.Agree 100 Percent! Thankfully the zoning In this area allows for our plans so it should not be an issue. Antsy to get some boots dirty and pockets full of wood chips from the chain saw!

[66joej]

bigbadbob17
I think much of Salmon Arm area is on Native land so it is leased. Don't know if yours is but think Trans Mountain Pipeline!

[JimQ]

Beautiful area and awesome drone footage. Thanks for posting. I hope your plans come together without any issues.