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Community concern about potential commercial development near Rockingham County camp for children with disabilities

A company wants to rezone 192 acres of land on HWY 220. They haven't shared their plans, but paperwork filed with the state shows it's tied to a casino developer.

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. — There's been a lot of talk the past few days about a possible casino coming to Rockingham County, and not all of it is positive.

Ryan Joyce is the program director for Camp Carefree.

He showed WFMY News 2’s Itinease McMiller just how close development could be to the 150 to 400 campers with special needs they serve. 

“If you look at the maps the highway commercial aspect runs the entire distance of our property line and will be really close," Joyce said. 

NC Development Holdings wants to rezone 192 acres of land on Highway 220 that borders the nearly 90-acre Camp Carefree sits on.

Joyce said he's concerned it could impact the water supply to their pond.

“Where we do canoeing and fishing programs if the land is redeveloped then we may lose our pond which would result in our programs having to discontinue," Joyce said.

The development company presented its request to the Rockingham County planning board last week.

The company hasn't shared its plans but paperwork filed with the state shows it's tied to a casino developer.

This comes as state lawmakers talk about new gambling laws and casinos.

Republican Senate leader Phil Berger represents Rockingham County.

He said last week there's a good chance lawmakers will approve new gambling legislation this summer.

“If we have people who are gambling or drinking they may want to wander on our property which proposes a safety hazard for our kids," Joyce said.

Some neighbors expressed their concerns at last week's planning board meeting.

"I think you all know what they plan on putting in there.  I think its suppose to be hush hush what they're putting in there," said a concerned resident. "We don't want this the community doesn't want it."

Dear Camp Family. Recently we were notified that a holding company is trying to have 192 acres that adjoins the camp to...

Posted by Camp Carefree on Saturday, July 15, 2023

Residents have started a petition in hopes of stopping the rezoning.

There's a personal connection to Camp Carefree for people like Mckenzie Weekly.

When she was younger, she and her sister who has epilepsy would go to the camp every summer.

"It's an opportunity to show her she's not out of the ordinary she's just the typical kid it showed we both were able to come to a camp specialized for her," Weekenly said.

 

Weekly and Joyce hope to keep developers from making a splash in their rural area that's become a safe haven for kids with special needs. 

The planning board denied the rezoning request last week with a 5-2 vote.

The county board of commissioners has the final say.

It'll go before them in August. 

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