Four Catskill Preservation Coalition Members Decline to Sign Agreement with Developer Dean Gitter
SHANDAKEN, N.Y., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ — The Catskill Heritage Alliance, Friends of Catskill Park, Sierra Club, and Pine Hill Water District Coalition announced they have not signed an MOA approving a revised Belleayre Resort development negotiated between Crossroads Ventures, LLC and the Catskill Preservation Coalition (CPC).
The final MOA was released to CPC member groups only yesterday. Because it is not substantially a lower-build compromise the four groups said they could not endorse it by signing. They will continue to oppose this or any other project of similar size and scale.
The revised resort was proposed during confidential negotiations in Governor Spitzer’s office, under a gag order, with details unknown to the public until now.
Groups that don’t sign retain their rights to publicly oppose the project, to adjudicate issues in an SDEIS, and to judicial review of the FEIS, the SEQRA findings statement, any final permits — state, county or local, and any Unit Management Plan or changes to the taxpayer-owned, DEC-managed Belleayre Ski Center.
Too Big
“Scale remains the stumbling-block,” said Judith Wyman, Friends of Catskill Park Chair and one of CPC’s official negotiators. “This proposal is for a resort only slightly smaller than the outsized original. That’s not an acceptable compromise.”
“We local residents would still shoulder the adverse impacts of this unacceptable development: traffic, noise, disastrous flooding, the undermining of our way of life and our economy,” said Richard Schaedle, Chairman of Catskill Heritage Alliance, also one of CPC’s official negotiators. “This Agreement sets a terrible precedent for future growth in the Catskills.”
The negotiations did result in no build on the sensitive Big Indian plateau, improvements in monitoring, one 18-hole golf course instead of two with organic management, and some green building improvements — all with conditions.
But the revised plan merely places most of what was originally planned for both sides of the proposed Resort all onto the west, straddling Rt. 49A, a winding, mountain road. The massive scale of the project would dwarf the area villages causing severe socioeconomic displacement, in addition to environmental concerns due to the location.
It would include a completely new Highmount development with east and west lodges, a 120-room hotel, a spa, conference center and other amenities, and 120 detached housing units on steep mountain slopes, as high as 3000 feet and highly visible, even from Forest Preserve hiking trails.
“The stormwater protocol for Highmount is only conceptual,” said Michelle Wooten, President of the Pine Hill Water District Coalition. “And we’re still concerned about where they will get enough water for this project, since the well testing is incomplete. We’re asked to approve this MOA right now, with major issues unresolved.”
Endangers Public Resources
Of particular concern is the development’s location in the watershed serving 10 million New Yorkers.
“It’s difficult to control flooding and erosion on mountains, yet this plan calls for a square mile of dense development, including a golf course. Heavy development in this sensitive mountain area could put NYC’s water at risk of filtration, estimated at a cost of $10 billion,” said Carolyn Zolas, Watershed Committee Chair for the Atlantic Chapter of Sierra Club. http://www.newyork.sierraclub.org
“We couldn’t get an accounting of the taxpayer-funded perks promised the Developer during negotiations,” said CHA Treasurer Doris Bartlett. “Taxpayers deserve to understand the full costs they will bear.”
The proposal includes taxpayer-funded chair lifts and ski trails with snowmaking leading from the taxpayer-owned Belleayre Ski Center directly onto private Resort property.
“The Belleayre Ski Center is a vital economic engine for the region,” said Schaedle. “Some expansion and additional area lodging will help it remain competitive; but the Resort’s size — over 2000 beds — is unacceptable. It will suck the economic vitality from the surrounding communities.”
“Now that the details are public,” Schaedle added, “those concerned about the future of the Catskill Park and forest preserve can inform themselves and participate in the scoping session, public hearings and the supplemental DEIS.” http://www.CatskillHeritage.org
“These mountains are already a destination for millions,” said Wyman, “and the people of New York State have long protected them. This development threatens a precious public resource and we have to find a better way. The process continues.”
Prior to its dissolution with some members agreeing and some declining to sign an MOA, the Catskill Preservation Coalition comprised Catskill Heritage Alliance, Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Friends of Catskill Park, NRDC, NYPIRG, Pine Hill Water District Coalition, Riverkeeper,
Inc., Sierra Club, Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, Inc., Trout Unlimited and Zen Environmental Studies Institute.
SOURCE Catskill Heritage Alliance; Friends of Catskill Park; Sierra Club; Pine Hill Water District Coalition
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