On July 30, the Hernando County Board of Commissioners voted on a proposal, or rather a re-proposal, to rezone a property from Agricultural to PDP (Planned Development Project) Recreational with deviations. Earlier this year, Julie Bishop had come before the board to request this rezoning to build a glamping campground site on a 5.1-acre parcel of land located on Ponce De Leon Boulevard near the Cobb intersection.
In April, the five commissioners issued a continuance for the proposal, noting that there were areas that needed addressing before approval could be reached. Bishop worked with Hernando County Senior Planner Omar De Pablo to alleviate these concerns and returned with a refined master plan on Tuesday. This sufficiently satisfied the board and with a motion and second from Vice Chairman Brian Hawkins and Commissioner Steve Champion, respectively, Bishop’s request to rezone the glamp-ground was unanimously approved.
“Good job because this is one we were kind of advising you on how to do this the right way and make it done the right way […]” Hawkins said to Bishop. “This is a glamping/RV destination-type resort what you are trying to do. I just applaud you for going back, listening, doing it the right way, and then [coming] up with these renditions. I’ll be a visitor and a client.”
After the council’s previous postponement, Bishop went back to the drawing board with a professional consulting firm to reduce the number of RV bays. Together, Hawkins noted they successfully slashed the amount down from 56 to 16 spots for recreational vehicles. The number of glamping tents, which are “luxury safari” in style, remains the same at a maximum of 10 sites. Bishop and company also included a pool and playground to the plan for visiting families to enjoy.
There will be septic, well, and electric available at every site. Mr. De Pablo added that a deviation would still be required due to the property being roughly 5 acres as opposed to the generally required 10, but his offices felt this was acceptable in this instance.
“You guys don’t know how long I have been waiting for this,” Bishop said to the board. “This is going to be more of like a meditation, yoga, and sound healing. It is not about the teenagers coming and partying because that’s not who I am. This is family orientated […] We actually have a hammock park where people can lay under the stars and enjoy the sound healing that’s going to be going on and enjoy the beautiful site that Brooksville really does offer.”
Her glamp-ground will add another unique, high-end lodging experience to the county in addition to the local “Chinook,” which is a bed-and-breakfast that was created from the body of Chinook CH-47D Helicopter situated on a five-acre plot of land inside of the Withlacoochee State Forest and is rated With luxurious and distinct places like these offering their services, glamping is on the rise in Hernando County.
