The facility is owned by an LLC based in Lakewood, New Jersey, and is situated in Scotland, outside of Gettysburg. However, Greene Township officials referenced a letter from a representative of USA Up Star, an Indiana-based disaster response organization, requesting to utilize the structure to “provide shelter for refuge[e] families.”
Greene Township zoning official Daniel Bachman wrote a letter to the USA Up Star staffer in August stating that the property’s most recent use as a summer camp falls within its R-1, or low-density residential, code and that a higher-density shelter would not be allowed.
Bachman wrote that the business could challenge his decision.
News contacted USA Up Star to request a statement. According to its website, it was founded in 2009 with the goal of offering the greatest disaster, responder, and warfighter assistance possible for disaster, contingency, surge, and displacement operations. It is a service-disabled veteran-owned company.
In a letter acquired by News, the organization last communicated with Bachman to let him know they are coordinating with the federal government on the issue and would like more zoning details from Greene Township.
In a Friday interview, state senator Doug Mastriano, a Republican from Gettysburg and the GOP’s nominee for governor in 2022, expressed his deep concern over the ongoing activities involving the largely dilapidated Scotland property.
