FAQs

People who call Cacapon South their home (or home-away-from-home) say it is the best leisure-living community in the area. The properties are carefully planned and meticulously developed on 200+ acres of beautiful land across from Cacapon Resort State Park.

Each homesite ranges in size from one-half to six acres – both open and wooded, level and hillside – many with extraordinary views of the Cacapon and Sleepy Creek Mountain ranges. There are even secluded estate homesites with private lanes. Other amenities include:

• All utilities are underground
• The majority of the lots are serviced by a publicly regulated sewer utility
• All primary roads are paved and accessible throughout the year

View a collection of a few house pictures at About > Photo galleries > 

Cacapon South was developed by MDG Companies of WV, headquartered in Columbia Maryland at the offices of its corporate parent MDG Companies. The company has a 40-year track record as a builder in West Virginia, Maryland, Florida, and Ohio. MDG considers Cacapon South their “trophy community” and made a significant investment to bring this unique community to life. The officers call the community, “the pride of Morgan County, the town of Berkeley Springs and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia”.

In addition to custom homes, MDG companies build and develop office and residential parks, office buildings, retail complexes, special use buildings, residential communities, and farms.

Read more about the history of Cacapon South at About > History >

When you buy property at Cacapon South you become a member of our Property Owners Association. The POA has a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions which governs the rules for architecture.

Everyone who wants to build or improve their property goes through an approval process with the Architectural Committee (ARC). Building and site plans must conform with the covenants and restrictions and must also “preserve the aesthetic integrity” of the community.

Items up for review include setbacks, house sizes, and other “conditions.” From time to time, the ARC may impose other conditions and/or requirements that are “reasonable and in the best interest of the community.” Some required features:

• Painting unfinished block foundations to blend with the home
• Painting of roof vents to blend with the home
• Plantings in front of homes and around foundations, where none naturally exist

You can find more information about the ARC along with links to forms that are used for new building activity on this website at Governance > Committees >

An annual fee of approximately $300 is required under the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions of the community. It is paid on January 1st of each year. This fee is used primarily for road and common area maintenance, snow removal, and entrance landscaping. Occasional special assessments are possible, but only with the approval of a majority of members voting to fund special community projects.

For more information about fees navigate to Governances > Dues and fees >

Trash pickup.  Apple Valley Waste, a private contractor, provides roadside trash pickup on a weekly basis. The cost of receptacle-emptying service is approximately $20 per month, payable on a quarterly basis.

Weekend homeowners often choose to haul out their own trash instead of contracting for trash removal services.

For contact information about Apply Valley Waste see Neighborhood hub > Who do I call >

Recycling.  The county has a recycling drop-off location open on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays on Route 522. Consult the website to find out what recyclable materials are accepted.  In the case of a day with high heat (actual temperature “feels like” 90 degrees or above) or colder conditions (20 degrees or below), consult their Facebook page for posts about whether they have reduced hours or are closed, or call their information line shown below.

• Winter Hours (October 1 through March 31)
  Monday and Friday 11:00 AM – 4:30 PM
  Saturday 8:30 AM – 2:30 PM
• Summer Hours (April 1 through September 30)
  Monday 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
  Friday and Saturday 8:30 AM – 2:30 PM

No electronics accepted.  Go to the Berkeley County Solid Waste facility Inwood site with these ($7.50 donation); Call 304-267-9370 for directions and hours.

Closed Holidays: Memorial Day, Labor Day, New Year’s Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day when they fall on a Monday, Friday, or Saturday

LEARN MORE
Phone: (304) 258-8718
Address: 2990 Valley Road (Route 522), Berkeley Springs
website: Morgan County Recycles >

People who live here rave about how easy it is to visit Cacapon Resort State Park, located immediately across Route 522 at the entrance gatehouse. You enjoy easy access to the area’s finest golf course, restaurant facilities, and places to hike and fish. In addition, you can boat or swim on the lake in season along with other outdoor activities.

Cacapon South itself also contains over 20 acres of open space for the use of all property owners.

Find a curated list of things to do in the area, including park information, at About > Surrounding area >

The Cacapon South Public Utility, a state-of-the-art sewage treatment facility serving Cacapon South, provides operation and maintenance of the wastewater treatment plant. Each septic tank gets routine maintenance that includes periodic inspections, filter cleaning, and pumping if needed.

The utility is regulated by the West Virginia Public Service Commission, which has set an annual fee of approximately $395.00 per year for this service.

If you are building new, the cost to the lot owner for the right to connect to the sewer system is a capital contribution fee of approximately $5,950, payable prior at the time of the application for your building permit. Individual septic tanks are typically installed by the contractor during home construction.

The system design consists of an individual septic tank installed on each building site. Effluents from the tank flow through variable grade sewage lines to the progressive treatment system consisting of recirculating tanks and sand filters. Recirculating pumps, sand filters, and UV sanitizers produce highly treated clear and odorless discharge, which exceeds State and Federal guidelines.

For more details on the Cacapon South Utility, go to Property Owners Hub > Fees > Cacapon South Public Utility > 

People who live in Cacapon South get their water from individually-drilled wells that are the responsibility of each lot owner. The building subcontractor should install the well, pump, and water supply lines to the home. The depth and cost of wells will vary, but the expected depth averages approximately 300 feet.

Some lots on Indian Run Lane are in an area designated as a 100-year floodplain. Concrete benchmark monuments have been placed at the corners of every other lot for determining the first-floor elevation of any proposed homes, in the unlikely event of a 100-year storm.

FEMA requires flood insurance if your property is located in a Special Flood Hazardous Area. These are documented in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) map, maintained by FEMA. If you believe your home should not be designated in a flood zone there is an appeals process to apply for a lot amendment to the NFIP map. You need to take the following actions:

1. With the help of a licensed land surveyor, obtain a document that your base elevation is outside the SFHA
2. Submit a request to FEMA for the NFIP map to be changed with an MT-EZ application called eLOMA

LEARN MORE
Phone: (877) 336-2627
Mail:
FEMA LOMC Clearinghouse
847 South Picket Street
Alexandria, VA 22304-4605
Website: FEMA Map Assistance Center >

Look up the Morgan County Flood Plain Ordinance to get additional information. Any questions about the ordinance should be referred to the Morgan County Planning Commission.

LEARN MORE
Phone: (304) 258-8540 ext. 1303
Website: Morgan County Planning Commission >
Ordinance: Morgan County Flood Plain Ordinance (PDF) >

Cacapon South is within five miles of the South Morgan County Volunteer Fire Department. The Fire Department has several large tanker trucks (4,000 & 1,800 gallons), and a “dry hydrant” is located just across the street at the entrance to the Cacapon Resort State Park, with a second hydrant at the entrance to Cacapon South Section V. The Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating for our fire department is Class 6.

Emergency phone numbers, including for the fire department, are available on this website at Property Owner Hub > Who do I call? >

Properly constructed outdoor fire pits, factory-built outdoor fireplaces, chimineas, patio heaters, and outdoor grills are generally acceptable. While there are periods throughout the year during which outdoor burning is prohibited in Morgan County — except with a commercial permit — small campfires are generally exempt.

In addition, builders may conduct burning during lot clearing under a commercial burn permit from the WV Division of Forestry, as well as use small fires (wood or propane) to heat steel water barrels for masonry work during cold spells.

There are no specific restrictions in the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions or the Architectural Guidelines regarding outdoor burning. However, in addition to applicable burning laws administered by the WV Division of Forestry, the Cacapon South Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions prohibit noxious or offensive activity which may be an annoyance or nuisance to the community.

It is never acceptable to impact your neighbors with dense smoke, heavy odors, or falling ash. Residents should always consider the time of day, proximity to others, type of material, wind direction, and other conditions. Burning household waste is a serious threat to public health and the environment and is NEVER permissible.

Learn more about the West Virginia laws on burning > 

Living on the outskirts of Berkeley Springs in a wooded community gives residents plenty of access to area wildlife, which must be considered when planning a garden.  Deer sightings, especially in the morning and early evening are quite frequent.  Birds seem to flock to the area and birdwatching is a favorite pastime of many neighbors.  Less frequently, people report seeing turtles, rabbits, hawks, wild turkeys, and even a bear.

The prevalence of deer means that gardeners are advised to source “deer-resistant” plants and flowers for their landscaping needs and hope for the best.  General guidance of what works includes decorative grasses, bulbs of all kinds, and strongly scented plants.

Below is a curated list of recommendations from our neighbors in Cacapon South for a deer-resistant garden:

Plants

• Andromeda
• Barrenwort/Epimedium – Shade – Perennial (P)
• Beautyberry
• Butterfly bush
• Ferns
• Hypercium/St. John’s Wort
• Japanese Blood Grass/Imperata cylindrica Rubra – Sun – P
• Lavender
• Mint
• Russian Sage
• Sarcococca (Himalayan) – Shade – groundcover
• Vinca – Shade –Groundcover – P

Shrubs and trees

• Amsonia/Blue Star – Sun/Part Sun – deciduous
• Andromeda – Sun/Part Sun – evergreen
• Boxwoods
• Caryopteris/Dark Knight – Sun- deciduous
• Hawthorne
• Lilac tree
• Rhododendrons
• Scottish heather
• Scotch Broom
• Vitex (“Chaste Tree”)

Flowers

• Asclepias – Milkweed – Sun P
• Bee Balm
• Bleeding Heart/Dicentra – P
• Cleome –Annual/ self-seeds – Sun
• Cone Flowers
• Daffodils
• Foxglove – Sun – Perennial
• Hellebores -Shade – P
• Iris
• Scented geranium/Cranesbill – Sun/Part Sun – P