A Columbia County property owner is getting another chance to pitch his idea to county commissioners of establishing a comfort-packed campground off Washington Road.
The Columbia County Board of Commissioners tabled action recently on the proposed Lost Horizon Glamping Retreat
until landowner Frank Harris and civil engineer Robert Titus can provide more detailed answers about the site's layout and its adherence to county code.Harris and Titus have requested a rezoning of about 2.5 acres of Harris' property bordering Reed Creek behind American Legion Post 192 on Legion Drive.
Glamping is a form of camping that trades "roughing it" in tents for staying in more permanent
domed structures equipped with electric power and plumbing atop small decks overlooking undisturbed views of nature.
Harris told planning commissioners in August that he lives on the property and considers his connection to nature therapeutic as he battles stage-4 prostate cancer.
"I sit on my deck, and I enjoy the nature of what I see back there, see the foxes and different things," Harris said at the Aug. 6 planning commission meeting. "But I wanted other people to enjoy it, so that's when I came up with the idea."
At the Board of Commissioners' Aug. 18 meeting, officials invited the developers to return to further discuss county concerns about the proposal, including how long campers would be allowed to stay and how to accommodate a 20-foot-wide access road to allow fire trucks and ambulances on the property in case of emergencies.
The commissioners' next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 1.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Glamping retreat plan gets second hearing after county concerns
