The South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District pitched two designs to the public for its new campground on Thursday, but neither came with a price.

It was one of the first questions asked during the unveiling of the designs, but was quickly put to rest.

“It depends on what features we put in,” District Director Doug Coutts said. “That’s where we’re at right now, we’re getting feedback from the community.”

“We never put a number on it, we want to look at ‘So what’s the smallest nut we could do that’s something we could open and start getting revenue generated?’ ” he added.

The 17 people in attendance were in favor of dispersed camping sites as opposed to a clustered arrangement on the 35-acre property acquired by the district in October. Early concept drawings and maps, potential amenities and operations were presented by J.A. Brennan Associates Landscape Architects & Planners’s Jim Brennan and Emily Griffith at the meeting, held on March 10 in South Whidbey High School’s new commons. The Seattle-based consulting firm was hired to design the campground in December.

The concept drawings and maps included two options while also displaying different layouts for the campground and the positives attached. Clustered camping entailed less privacy, fewer roadways, a separate entrance from the park and a total of 70 campground sites, while dispersed camping allowed for more privacy, more roadways, a shared entrance with the park and 92 camping sites. Both would feature a multi-purpose welcome center near the entrance, electronic pay stations, parking, sheltered picnic areas, group camping sites, running trails and restrooms. Features between the two areas differed in a few ways, including a larger amphitheater in the clustered option and a smaller version in the dispersed layout.

After several questions from attendees pertained to the layout and design of the concept maps, Coutts said they were merely concepts and that additional molding and crafting of the designs will be needed. Having only seen the concepts the morning of the meeting, Coutts said a possible redesign of the map would include moving the amphitheater closer to Community Park to allow for easier and quicker access.

He also noted at the meeting that features of the two options can be interchangeable between the concepts, allowing flexibility in taking certain positives from one concept and applying them to another.

Brennan, the principal landscape architect and planner, and Griffith, a landscape designer, presented the firm’s goals, results of site analysis, operations program and infrastructure of the campground in addition to its design.

Brennan said campground users could stay on site for a maximum duration of 14 days and that it would be open year-round. Day use would last from dawn to dusk. A fee collection point would be located at the entrance, while coin-operated showers would be included at comfort stations. Camp sites would include tents, RVs and trailers, walk-in and bike-in sites. Yurts and cabins are also being considered. Roadways and connecting networks would consist of asphalt or gravel.

Griffith discussed the topography of the land. She said a majority of the land has flat terrain, which is a positive sign in terms of developing campsites and grading the land.

“We’ve got a lot of really good land to work with in a lot of different ways,” Griffith said.

Coutts said the district office may be housed inside the multi-purpose center when it is built. The district rents its current building on Maxwelton Road from Island County. Coutts said the county informed the district it will be reevaluating its facilities and that rent increases may come as a result.

Coutts touted the running trails as a positive of the design, adding that they could also be utilized by the high school’s cross country team.

One attendee had mixed feelings about the amphitheater while another had reservations about the running trails.

Langley resident Linda Good said she liked the idea, but felt there were already ample opportunities for residents to enjoy concerts.

She also agreed with the potential move of the district office, but noted that she didn’t come away with an estimate for when the campground will be built.

“It will also make it so that it’s going to take a lot longer,” Good said. “I wasn’t sure how long it would be before they could open a campground. It looks like it may be 10 years or so.”

Coutts said Friday morning that until the district knows the scope of work that will be done, it’s hard to estimate when the campground would be built. He said the target date is July 2017.

“At this point, we’re still up in the air,” Coutts said. “You’re looking out a ways before it would be completed.”

Leanne Finlay of Clinton said she was in favor of dispersed camping and glad that RV camping would be included with the campground. She felt the running trails were questionable.

“People that camp in a tent, you’re going to leave and maybe go hike or go somewhere, you don’t want somebody rummaging in your tent,” Finlay said. “I don’t think the running trail is a good idea. It’s questionable of how secure your paying customers would feel. It’s nice to have shared amenities, but tents are not secure.”

Comments from the audience also included hopes for recreational activities within the campground, such as a disk golf course, horseshoe pits and bocce ball.

Coutts said he was pleased overall with the meeting. Though attendance was small, he felt the response was generally positive and that questions were adequately answered. A stakeholder meeting held prior to the public meeting saw an attendance of 30 people, where Coutts said they received positive feedback.

Coutts said the district is still looking for more feedback on its survey regarding campground development. The survey can be taken at www.surveymonkey.com/r/SL56RK9.