As people travel in recreational vehicles, they search for places to park overnight that are easy to access, safe and near amenities.

Roger Stephens and Drent Sarault kept that in mind in establishing Weary Traveler.

The RV park will be an automated, safe, secure, clean place for travelers to rest for the night while traveling from location to location or while visiting a nearby attraction.

For their first location, they chose a 7½-acre lot at 905 S. Commerce Drive on Seymour’s far east side that’s between Main Trailer Sales and Best-One Tire and Service.

During a meeting Thursday night at Seymour City Hall, the Seymour Plan Commission approved a development plan submitted by Stephens, who lives in Indianapolis, and Sarault, who lives in Plainfield. The vote was 9-0 with commission members Gary Colglazier and Darren Richey absent.

After the meeting, Sarault said now that they have the green light for the project, they hope to start construction within a couple of months. That will involve blacktop, fencing and landscaping.

Weary Traveler purchased the property from Monte Kevin Main and Mathew L. Main in March to develop the RV park.

“The location we found here in Seymour, which we love, is the perfect location for us,” Stephens told the plan commission. “It’s an hour between Indy and it’s an hour from Louisville, so you want to get through the next big city, then you want to have a place to rest and have a peaceful sleep.”

Other options for RV travelers are rest areas, truck stops, campgrounds and retail parking lots. Often, though, those are either full, noisy or unsafe, he said.

“What I found out, my wife doesn’t really like those spots very often unless it is a campground, and campgrounds are often off the interstate a little bit,” Stephens said. “What we’re trying to do is add something that’s close to the interstate, close to an intersection where there are amenities.”

Being right off of Interstate 65 and U.S. 50, Weary Traveler will offer a website for travelers to check availability, make a reservation and pay by credit card. Upon payment, they will receive a text or email message with the four-digit code to enter upon arriving at the automated gate.

The gate code will be good for 24-hour increments from 1 p.m. on the day reservations are made to the chosen day of departure at 1 p.m.

The park will have 24-hour video surveillance and be well-lit, and the perimeter will have full fencing and landscaping for added privacy and security.

“We’re going to try to keep the trees to a minimum on the inside of the park just so you don’t have things to drive around because there’s nothing more frustrating when you’re pulling in late at night than having to try to figure out going under trees,” Stephens said.

All sites will be 90-plus-feet pull thru with full hookups (water, sewer, electric and Wi-Fi).

Commission member Don Bruce asked about the plans for maintenance. Stephens said there will be a pet area with cleanup supplies and a dumpster onsite, and there will be someone there on a regular basis for maintenance.

“We don’t plan on doing anything halfway,” he said. “We plan on making it a nice place. We want people staying there, wanting to stay there.”

Commission member Bret Cunningham asked how long people would be allowed to stay and how that would be monitored. Stephens said they are focused on overnight travelers, and if anyone stays longer than that, they will have a discussion with them.

“I really think it’s a great idea. I can’t imagine really a better place,” Cunningham said.

Another question came from commission member Bernie Hauersperger, asking about emergency services having access to the gated park. Stephens said he has talked to the city’s police and fire chiefs about putting that in place.

Sarault said getting the Weary Traveler website, wearytravelerrv.com, up and running will be one of the next steps. They are working with ReserveAmerica Inc. for the reservation part of their website.

“They actually do all of the state campgrounds in Indiana right now and others,” Stephens said.

They also already have a second location picked out that’s an hour north of Indianapolis. Depending upon how the Seymour location goes, Sarault said they may keep expanding.

“We’re wanting to stay on the I-65 corridor. We understand how busy it is. We know the need is there,” he said.