DERRY TOWNSHIP, DAUPHIN COUNTY -
The people who live in the Stoverdale Campground say it's like paradise. Now they're afraid it could be paradise lost.
"I plan to stay here until we get just compensation for the property, or until hell freezes over," says Mike Cvetko. He's lived in his home in Stoverdale for 13 years.
He owns the building, but not the ground beneath it. Now the campground's owners want him and everyone else on the 21-acre property to pack up and leave. "It's no surprise," Cvetko says.
"We knew this day would come sometime, but not this soon."
Cvetko says the campground along the Swatara Creek near Hummelstown is the last prime real estate in Derry Township.
Development is already knocking on his door. New condominiums are going up across the street from Cvetko's home. Many of Cvetko's neighbors opted to take a buyout and leave their homes.
Many abandoned toys, TVs and appliances in their yards.
Several homeowners are in court appealing a judge's April decision in favor of the Stover family, owners of the campground.
"This was my home," says Krista Jakubik. Her mother still owns the creekside cabin in Stoverdale where Jakubik grew up. Now she comes to visit with her daughter.
"I learned to swim out here, I rowed the boat with my dad. I loved it out here," she says.
That love could be lost. Heavy equipment moved in this week to demolish the vacant homes. A spokesman for the Stover family says the work could happen next week.
"I plan to stay here until we get just compensation for the property, or until hell freezes over," says Mike Cvetko. He's lived in his home in Stoverdale for 13 years.
He owns the building, but not the ground beneath it. Now the campground's owners want him and everyone else on the 21-acre property to pack up and leave. "It's no surprise," Cvetko says.
"We knew this day would come sometime, but not this soon."
Cvetko says the campground along the Swatara Creek near Hummelstown is the last prime real estate in Derry Township.
Development is already knocking on his door. New condominiums are going up across the street from Cvetko's home. Many of Cvetko's neighbors opted to take a buyout and leave their homes.
Many abandoned toys, TVs and appliances in their yards.
Several homeowners are in court appealing a judge's April decision in favor of the Stover family, owners of the campground.
"This was my home," says Krista Jakubik. Her mother still owns the creekside cabin in Stoverdale where Jakubik grew up. Now she comes to visit with her daughter.
"I learned to swim out here, I rowed the boat with my dad. I loved it out here," she says.
That love could be lost. Heavy equipment moved in this week to demolish the vacant homes. A spokesman for the Stover family says the work could happen next week.
