Preston – The owners of the Strawberry Park campground have appealed the Planning and Zoning Commission's recent approval of zoning amendments governing recreational campgrounds.

The appeal, filed in New London Superior Court, cited several technical errors in the commission's Dec. 22 approval of the new regulations, and claimed provisions that call for campgrounds to keep logs of visitors during winter off-season months would invade the privacy of both campgrounds and visitors.

The amended regulations retained many provisions of the former campground regulations, including limiting winter camping on campsites between Nov. 1 and March 31 to no more than 30 days, Town Planner Kathy Warzecha said. But the requirement for a log of winter visitors is new, she said.

The campground owner or operator must keep a log of campers who have stayed there during the five-month winter period and provide a letter to the town zoning enforcement officer affirming that “no person had stayed at the campground over 30 days during the winter period,” the regulations state. The log must be available for the officer to review.

In the appeal, Strawberry Park Properties LLC claimed the off-season log requirement is poorly defined in the regulations and would be “impossible” to comply with or enforce.

“Such requirements might also constitute invasions of privacy both of the recreational campground and the persons about whom such log entries are required to be made,” states the appeal.

The owners also objected to a provision that property without direct access to a numbered state highway could not be developed as campgrounds. Strawberry Park, located at 42 Pierce Road, which intersects with state Route 165, complies with the state highway provision. The appeal stated that the company also owns land at and adjacent to 43 Pierce Road.

“This prohibition is unnecessary to the accomplishments of the purposes of the regulation,” the appeal claims and, “could constitute a taking and deprives the plaintiff of the value of some or all of the property.”

Strawberry Park President Ed Mayer, who testified against the regulations at the Dec. 22 PZC hearing, was not available for comment Monday. At the hearing, he argued the modified regulations do not comply with national standards and Strawberry Park could not comply with some of the new provisions.

Much of the appeal challenges technical aspects of the PZC approval, including a claim that the commission failed to explain how the amended regulations comply with the town's Plan of Conservation and Development and failed to list its reasons for approving the amendments following the hearing.

c.bessette@theday.com

Twitter: @Bessettetheday