WCM's Daily News Update: 6/26/23

WCM's Daily News Update is sponsored by?Firefly Reservations?software. Firefly Reservations specializes in providing an all-in-one booking system designed to streamline RV park and campground operations.

Park owners can learn more about Firefly Reservations at?https://fireflyreservations.com/.

WCM Profile: An Inside Look at AutoCamp Cape Cod

WOODALLSCM.com?(WCM) recently visited?AutoCamp Cape Cod?(ACCC) to take a tour of the company’s first east coast location in Falmouth, Mass. The property had been a campground for about 100 years before the most recent owners, the Tessier family, retired and sold the acreage to Boston-based?Blue Flag Development?in 2019. Blue Flag partnered with California-based AutoCamp as the operational arm of the park.

After purchase, Blue Flag Development worked with the Town of Falmouth’s Planning Board, Board of Health and Conservation Commission for AutoCamp approvals that included the nearly 8,000 square foot clubhouse, all new utilities, water and sewer lines, an onsite wastewater treatment system, stormwater drainage plans, additional plantings as buffers to neighbors and wetlands conservation requirements. The number of campsites was slightly reduced to 108, during the planning process.

LISTEN: ‘Four Points’ Growing, Focuses on Families

Editor’s Note: Due to some technical difficulties this week’s WCM’s Park Update is available only as a podcast. Sorry for the inconvenience.?

Sean Vidrine, CEO of?Four Points RV Resorts, chats with WCM’s Park Update, sponsored by?Bushtec Safari, on Tuesday (June 27) about the creation of the company and its recent growth trend. He highlights the types of parks that the group owns, including multiple Jellystone Parks, and what the group looks for when acquiring parks.

CNBC’s ‘Make It’ Looks at Story of Mich. KOA Owners

In 2016, Mark Lemoine came home from work and told his wife Karla Lemoine he wanted to quit his job and buy a campground, according to CNBC.

There was a lot on the line: Mark made $200,000 per year working for the Michigan state government, and Karla was a stay-at-home mom. Two of their four children were in college. Both were lifelong campers, but they’d never owned a business.

Swayed by the promise of adventure, Karla agreed. Within six months, they found a franchised?Kampgrounds of America?(KOA) site — the?Coloma/St. Joseph KOA Holiday?— for sale in Benton Harbor, Mich., a rural lake town nestled between Grand Rapids and Chicago.

Mich. Park Remains Open Despite Devastating Fire

Owner Dan Kolosci watched as his store, restaurant and registration office at?Hideaway Campground?in Silver Lake, Mich., burned to the ground, according to?ABC 13.

The fire happened on June 21, the first day of summer.

“I was in shock. I was in disbelief,” said Kolosci. “I mean 35 years of work was gone in 35 minutes.”

Mitten Minute: Site Planning & The Approval Process

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