Ohio’s private campgrounds are a safe, quiet place for Ohio’s families to spend time together. While we may not have some of our other favorite pastimes this summer like holiday parades and baseball, campgrounds offer the perfect respite for families that have been cooped up in their house all spring abiding by the Governor’s stay at home order.
In the interest of public health and mental wellness, campgrounds provide the ideal social distancing arrangement for both long-term and overnight stays. Campgrounds are most often located in a country setting on many acres of land and provide guests a safe place to enjoy the outdoors in relative isolation while roasting marshmallows and hot dogs with their family.
They provide a safe environment for many of the activities recommended by the Governor such as hiking, biking, walking, fishing and simply being outdoors. With planned safety protocols in place, they provide a controlled environment for Ohioans to enjoy the outdoors; however, campgrounds remain closed for no good reason.
Guest and employee safety are the top priority of Ohio’s private campgrounds and always have been. Current Ohio Department of Health regulations already require a minimum distance between sites and there are even stricter policies by individual campgrounds limiting the number of people per site that were in place long before COVID-19.
Though campground rules inherently follow many of the social distancing measures put in place by the Governor already, campgrounds have crafted plans to do even more under the current climate to protect guests and employees by temporarily closing or limiting certain activities and interactions.
So you may wonder – what is the hold-up on campgrounds? The Governor says the only hold-up is that campgrounds need to work together to come up with safety protocols for our industry prior to opening. Over a month ago, the campgrounds of the Ohio Campground Owners Association came up with a very detailed list of safety recommendations for campgrounds to follow.
These recommendations were distributed to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and the Ohio Department of Health. These recommendations went without a response for an entire month while Ohio’s campers were forbade from enjoying their favorite outdoor past-time and Ohio’s campground businesses struggled to stay alive.
Pennsylvania campgrounds are fully open, up and running. With Ohio campgrounds closed, many of our loyal campers are telling us that they are forced to travel across the border to camp in Pennsylvania and then return home to Ohio. Not only is this hurting Ohio’s economy and small businesses but it is causing unnecessary travel for our citizens and increasing their potential risk.
Other traditionally more-affluent travel and outdoor recreation facilities such as hotels, marinas, and golf courses have never been closed, yet campgrounds continue to be shuttered. Campgrounds have recommended safety protocols and can provide a safe place for their employees and patrons, just as these entities have been safely doing for the past two months.
We are thrilled for our friends in the restaurant, bar, salon and retail industries that have rightfully been given the opportunity to open their businesses and prove they can be safe and responsible. While these industries have much higher human-to-human contact, the state was able to figure out their re-opening guidelines. Yet campgrounds continue to wait.
Ohioans trusted the Governor while he told us to stay home and flatten the curve. It is now time for him to trust Ohio’s businesses to operate safely. With over 90% of Ohio’s businesses back up and running, why is it that the Governor is singling out campgrounds without good reason? It is time to open campgrounds TODAY.
Authors: Kristy Smith Jeff Hoffman Executive Director President Ohio Campground Owners Association Ohio Campground Owners Association PO Box 12278 Owner, Sandusky/Bayshore KOA Columbus, OH 43212 2311 Cleveland Rd. info@ohiocampers.com Sandusky, OH 44870 614-221-7748 mhd97@aol.com – 419-656-1921
The Ohio Campground Owners Association is comprised of 145 privately owned and operated campgrounds in the state of Ohio. www.ohiocampers.com
