Following a pause, plans for an RV park are moving ahead on One Tree Hill Way in Wilmington.

Project plans were submitted last month to the city of Wilmington and are moving through the city's technical review process. If plans come to fruition, the project would be the first RV park built inside Wilmington’s city limits.

The project, called Studio Park RV, is proposed on part of an undeveloped 18-acre tract at 2231 One Tree Hill Way. It secured a rezoning from the Wilmington City Council in August 2023. After that, Jeff Bouton, a member manager for the project, said it was put on the back burner as Bouton and his partners focused on other construction and real estate ventures.

In 2024, work started back up on the site. Bouton said they signed a contract with a civil engineer in March to begin designing infrastructure for the project. A natural slope on the property made the stormwater design more challenging, he added.

“It’s just been a long and tedious process. The land is very unique and … a lot of creativity was involved with making sure that we get our stormwater requirements,” he said. “We believe that we’ve successfully maximized that and maximized the opportunity of the site.”

Site plans show the proposed park includes 50 RV pads along with three buildings – a nearly 3,500 square foot office, dining and camp store building, a nearly 1,300 square foot bath house and a 1,500 square foot maintenance building. Bouton said they also have plans to install a dock and kayak launch in Smith Creek, which borders the property. Studio Park LLC, of which Bouton is a manager, purchased the site in 2022 for $435,000, according to property records.

The project is geared toward travelers who want a luxury RV experience, a sector that's seen growth in recent years.

“Our niche still is the luxury brand,” he said, “and we still think that trend has gone really in the direction that we've hoped.”

Right now, Bouton said the partners are working to price out the project’s main components, including the site work, architecture and buildings, and securing CAMA permitting for the dock and kayak launch.

“We really just want a final plan before we really start getting hard numbers,” he said, “but we're doing as much as we can, so we don't have any more time gaps.”

Bouton said he expects construction to take about a year, and he hopes to have the park open spring/summer or summer/fall of 2026. While they wait for construction to begin, Bouton said, the focus will be on building their brand and marketing.