Slice of Camp Dearborn Could Go Up For Sale

DEARBORN, MI — A portion of Camp Dearborn may be sold to help make improvements at the park. City officials are considering selling 40 of Camp Dearborn’s 626 acres for residential development

Camp Dearborn sits in Oakland County in Milford Township. It was purchased in 1947 under the direction of former mayor Orville Hubbard as a vacation and recreation destination for residents.

The portion of Camp Dearborn that could be sold is in “Trailer Village 2,” which is located in the northwest corner of the property. Funds would be used to upgrade infrastructure and RV sites, according to a city of Dearborn press release.

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About 185 mobile homes and 18 RVs have year-to-year leases in the 40-acres being considered for a potential sale. Many of the trailers are more than 50 years old, well beyond their expected lifespan.

In 2013, Camp Dearborn stopped allowing mobile homes larger than 400 square feet to move in after the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said it expected to prohibit the addition of these size units in campgrounds. Now, proposed state legislation might prevent those units from being moved elsewhere in the campground.

A 2012 study pegged the value of the land at about $600,000, but city officials say the parcel would like fetch more money today. By city charter, sale of the land would have to be put on the ballot — most likely in 2018 — for voter approval.

Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. recently met with about 150 campers with leases in the affected area to discuss the proposed changes. O’Reilly shared his vision of making Camp Dearborn and TV2 more attractive to campers of today and tomorrow.
Camp Dearborn is considering offering lease discounts to help owners in the affected area upgrade their units to RVs and possible assistance with moving trailers. By camp policy, all trailers must be moveable.

All mobile homes and RVs at camp are privately owned, and moving or removing them is the responsibility of the owners. Those who have been leasing spots would be offered a different RV site in the campground.

City administrators are working on details that would set the conditions of a potential sale. Later this year, the City Council possibly could be asked to authorize O’Reilly to work with Milford Township to rezone the 40-acre area from recreation to suburban residential.

In addition to the TV2 trailer area, the 626-acre Camp Dearborn offers 118 tents, rustic cabins and new resort cabins for rent, and 191 temporary sites for campers to set up their own tents and RVs. These amenities are not in the 40-acre area under consideration for a possible sale.

Camp Dearborn also includes Mystic Creek Golf Course, six lakes, a beach, fishing areas, bike trail and a heated swimming pool for campers. These are also unaffected by the potential sale of the 40 acres.