Freedom—July 15, 2024—A review by two state agencies of the docks and moorings at Freedom’s Wabanaki Campground may complicate the sale of campsites as the Ossipee Lake business seeks approvals to transition to a “membership campground” ownership structure.
A complaint filed with the Department of Environmental Services (DES) last year by campground neighbor Richard Hiller alleged that the business installed new boat docks without required state approvals during a two-year period starting in 2021.
The complaint said the docks may also conflict with the campground’s state permit for a congregate mooring field. Approvals for mooring fields require a property owner to show a need for moorings, such as that docks are not feasible or are insufficient at the site.
Moorings and congregate mooring fields are overseen by the N.H. Department of Safety (DOS), while DES oversees dock permits.
Hiller said heavy machinery was used to excavate the shoreline and install the boat docks. He said there were 11 docks with 29 watercraft last year in addition to 30 watercraft in the mooring field, for a total of 59 boats and jet skis.
“By any reasonable measure, the concentration of motorized watercraft on the Wabanaki Campground waterfront is grossly excessive and unjustifiable,” Hiller said in his complaint.
Picture shows some of the docks added to the Wabanaki shorefront last year. Source: DES
Campground manager Mark Salvati responded to DES to say the business had nine docks, not 11. He said he did not apply for permits for new docks because he thought he “had the right to the ones we had based on the number of docks that were always present here.”
Salvati said the property had a “multitude” of docks when his in-laws converted a youth summer camp to a seasonal campground business in 1962. He said the number of docks hasn’t changed since he took over the business from his in-laws in 2000.
But a DOS official last week said that the campground’s 2008 application to renew its congregate mooring field permit stated that the business had just two docks with five boat slips.
The application stated that the business needed 31 boat moorings because “campers who have paid for a seasonal site will be eligible for a mooring.”
In a March 6 letter, DES told Salvati he would need to provide evidence within 30 days that the current docks have existed “in their present location, configuration and dimension since 1978.” The case was turned over to a DES regional inspector on April 2.
In a phone call with Ossipee Lake Alliance this week, Salvati said he is no long trying to document the number of pre-existing docks, and instead intends to apply for approval of whatever number of docks DES will allow at the site.
He said he is waiting for DES to schedule a discussion with him about his options before he submits a formal application. He said there are six boat docks in the lake this year in addition to the 31 moorings.
Impact on Cooperative Ownership Plan
The number of approved docks and moorings could affect the sale of campsites to prospective buyers who are considering the ownership plan announced at the beginning of the year.
Wabanaki’s website states that the business is no longer renting campsites, but “Families can now own their own little piece of paradise,” and “for those who love boating, there’s a dock and moorings available.”
The business applied to the state in January to convert from a campground rental business to what’s known as a “membership campground” under Jus 1303.02 in RSA Chapter 356-A.
If approved, the conversion would create a corporation in which campsites would be owned by individuals via shares in the corporation. The corporation would be overseen by a board of directors elected by the site owners, and a campground manager would be hired for day-to-day operations.
Salvati told the Alliance that approximately 15 campsites remain available for purchase. All others have been reserved by potential buyers who have made down payments that are being held in escrow pending approval of the conversion.
Screen shot from the campground’s website shows campsites still available to be reserved for purchase if the campground conversion is approved.
The price of the campsites ranges from $50K to $125K, depending on their proximity to the shorefront.
But whether all of the buyers will be able to bring a boat with them depends on the outcome of the reviews by DOS and DES.
DOS says holders of mooring permits must report any change in circumstances, such as the addition of docks. The department said it had not received notice that docks were added beyond the two docks reported in the 2008 renewal application.
Salvati told the Alliance he was unaware that new docks needed to be reported to DOS or that additional docks might call into question his congregate mooring permit.
He also said he was unaware that permits are not transferrable. Records show that the permit holder, Wabanaki Campground LLC, sold its assets to Wabanaki Campground Conversion LLC for $2.125 million in September 2023 as part of the plan to transition to a membership campground.
DOS says it is looking into the matter to determine whether a new permit application must be submitted. A new application would require the campground to confirm that “no other viable alternative exists for securing boats,” and it would be subject to the approval of the Governor and Executive Council.
An official of the state’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau said last week that it asked the applicant for additional information about the conversion plan and received a partial response. It said it is waiting for the remainder of the information.
The bureau official said that local zoning and land use requirements must be met before the state will take any formal action on the application.