WATAUGA COUNTY, N.C. — For months now, no campers have been allowed to stay at the Turtle Island Preserve near Boone.
It has been open for more than 25 years, until local health officials and building inspectors showed up there.
“Basically, I have dedicated my whole life,” Eustace Conway said.
He has lived in the wilderness for nearly 30 years, building everything he has and living off the 500-plus acres he owns, known as the Turtle Island Preserve.
“The whole foundation of the American experience is based on the experience of small farms. This is a small farm,” Conway said.
But Conway said that experience he shares each summer with hundreds of children is in jeopardy of ending. Inspectors found problems with 20 buildings across his property. Conway said the list of violations included things ranging from a doghouse to a portable commode he made for his mom.
“I got a bucket and built a box around it and I'm getting a violation from the county,” Conway said.
The Watauga County planning director said they first went to the property last summer after receiving a complaint about construction there. They found none of the buildings had permits or had been inspected. In an email sent Thursday afternoon, the county said it "is concerned about public health, safety, and fairness in the uniform application of building code".
The Health Department also found violations that forced the camp to close.
“Never had a health issue. Never had a building problem. We've got a perfect record,” Conway said.
Conway said he's never had a problem in the 25 years he's been there and that it would be a shame to keep the primitive camping experience from children.
“Why are they attacking me because I'm different?” he said. “Sad thing is, I'm doing all the things our ancestors did. I'm living the early American dream."
Just this week, the state Building Code Council announced plans to possibly amend codes for primitive camps, but it may be late spring before the revisions are made.