TOWN OF HIGHLAND, NY—Will Camp FIMFO look like a trailer park? 

FIMFO stands for “fun is more fun outside,” but getting campers inside is the point of its proposed new resort. FIMFO is a subsidiary of Sun Communities, which makes manufactured homes, and wants to turn hundreds of long-time tent sites into parking spaces for tow-behinds and RV park models, all with permanent hookups for water, sewage and electricity.

The new resort will move into the former Kittatinny Campground in the Town of Highland, which operated as a tenting campground since the early 1940s.

An RV park model does not resemble the RVs you see cruising down the highway or parked in yards awaiting the next family vacation. It looks like the sort of manufactured home you might see in a trailer park. A skirt hides the wheels that allow them to be towed—for example, to higher ground during floods.

FIMFO representative Alex Betke of the Albany law firm Brown Weinraub told the River Reporter that the lion’s share of campsites will be occupied by modestly sized and highly mobile tow-behinds. Far fewer sites will be occupied by the park models, he said, which are a cabin-sized 400 square feet. Neither type of accommodation will be winterized, so year-round use will be impossible, he said.

It’s not clear how many of each type will appear at Camp FIMFO. Betke did not return several messages asking for the number of RV park model sites and the number of tow-behind sites planned for the resort. Initial plans called for the clearing of 14.6 acres across the 223-acre site, and 145 park models.

This aerial from 2023 shows 10 RV park models and other structures added to five riverfront acres owned by Camp FIMFO since 2020. Initial plans …

If it sits for 60 days, it gets assessed

In the last couple of years, about 10 RV park models popped up along the river. They occupy one of the plots purchased by FIMFO, and were put there when the land stlll belonged to Kittatinny’s former longtime owner, David Jones. These structures are listed in the Sullivan County assessment records as “cabins.”

Cabins, tiny homes and park models are all about the same size, maxing out at 400 square feet. Cabins are built on permanent foundations, while park models, as well as many tiny homes, can be moved from place to place.

An RV can be either a motor vehicle or a trailer. There are many types, including motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth-wheel trailers and pop-up campers, among others.

Manufactured houses are also known as mobile homes or trailers. They are built in factories and then transported to home sites. They’re typically larger than tiny homes or park models and are subject to greater regulation.

Lorry King, the Highland assessor, said she looks at each structure differently. And just because a structure doesn’t have a foundation doesn’t mean it won’t be taxed like any other dwelling if it is used more than 60 days a year.

People will sometimes bring an RV to their vacant property in town, King said. “If they leave it there for 60 days, I’m assessing,” she said. “That’s part of the value of your property.”

That means an RV, whether a park model or a tow-behind, that’s used throughout the summer at Camp FIMFO or elsewhere in town would be assessed for property taxes, while an RV occupying a site for a few days or weeks would not.

Whether a structure is winterized or has hookups also factors into a property’s assessment, King said. But whether a property is occupied all year or only seasonally is not a factor, she said.

You might not be able to use some dwellings throughout the year, she said, “but they are accessible.”

The current tax bill for the five-acre riverfront FIMFO property containing the 10 park models is $10,263.

This aerial from 2020 shows the five-acre riverfront plot before the park models were added.

Engineer makes suggestions

The draft scoping document drawn up by town lawyer Michael Davidoff says 283 tent campsites will be converted into RV campsites. The total number of campsites proposed for the FIMFO project is 399.

The public comment period on the draft scope lasted 20 days and ended on November 22. “We’ve received quite a few emails and letters,” said board chair Norm Sutherland at the November 27 planning board meeting.

A scoping document outlines the boundaries of a project and defines what work will be done.

Sutherland said the public’s comments will be included with the board’s meeting minutes and put online once the board accepts them.

The comments were forwarded to Keystone Engineering, the town’s engineering consulting firm, which has come up with “close to 91 recommendations” based on the comments, Sutherland said.

This screenshot of a Sun Communities webpage show motorhomes in one of their RV parks.

Camping boom

In its 2023 Camping Report, The Dyrt said campers found it five times harder to find an available campsite in 2022 than it was pre-pandemic, making 2022 the most booked-up year ever. More than a third of property managers added campsites last year.

Other takeaways from the report:

• More than half of Americans who camp do so in a vehicle, usually RVs.

• More than 15 million Americans went camping for the first time in the last two years.

• Glamping is getting more popular, with 44 percent of campground managers adding glamping options. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, glamping is “outdoor camping with amenities and comforts (such as beds, electricity and access to indoor plumbing) not usually used when camping.”

• More than half of campers who stayed in a vehicle were twice as likely to bring a laptop and six times more likely to bring a television.

• Forty-five percent of campers had a household income above $100,000 in 2022, compared to 39.5 percent in 2021.

Sources: The Dyrt: reports.thedyrt.com/2023-camping-report and Merriam-Webster: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glamping