Action
Alert
Massive Development Proposal
at the Park Agency Threatens the Ecological Integrity and Wild
Character of the Adirondack Park
Your Help Needed Today!
In its final meeting before Governor
Spitzer took office, the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) announced
that they would initiate the public hearing processes which will
culminate in the issuance or denial of a permit for the massive
"Adirondack Club and Resort" (ACR) project in Tupper
Lake. The ACR, proposed by a group called Preserve Associates,
would develop 6,400 acres of land previously owned by the Oval
Wood Dish Company. This project is one of the largest development
proposals inside the Park since the establishment of the APA.
ACR would include approximately
700 living units. Twenty-four of these units would be "great
camp lots" consisting of 50 or more acres each. In addition,
the mega-proposal includes a marina, a shooting school, and the
revitalization of the existing local ski slope.
The Adirondack Council firmly
supports the town of Tupper Lake's desire to reopen the ski area,
revitalize the downtown, encourage economic development, and
maintain its working forest. But this project would not accomplish
any of these goals. Instead, it will have the opposite effect.
The Council's principal concerns are fragmentation of the backcountry
and disruption of wildlife habitat, negative impacts to water
quality, and visual impacts from upland development.
Impacts on the Park
Backcountry Fragmentation
The "great camp lots" will fragment hundreds of acres
of intact forest lands with roads, driveways and houses. Recent
studies by the Wildlife Conservation Society explain the negative
impacts of rural sprawl in the Adirondacks and the need to reduce
the impacts of large lot subdivisions across the private forests
of the entire Park. None of the proposed development would be
in the village of Tupper Lake, use existing infrastructure or
help its downtown financially.
Upland Development
Approximately 700 housing units are planned near the ski area
on the steep slopes and shallow soils of Mt. Morris. This high
number of units will require the removal of hundreds of acres
of trees, increase soil erosion, and reduce water quality in
nearby lakes. The units will also be highly visible for miles
during both day and night.
Water Quality
The project proposes two community sewage treatment plants to
serve the development. One plant would discharge over 10,000
gallons a day of chemically treated effluent into the small and
pristine Cranberry Pond, once used as a drinking water reservoir.
This same water body will also be used to supply water to snow-making
machines on the ski slopes, forever altering its natural ecosystem.
The second sewage treatment plant will discharge additional thousands
of gallons of effluent into Lake Simond, where local residents
with homes on the lake recently made costly upgrades to their
individual septic systems to improve this shallow lake's water
quality. The developer contends that the treatment plants will
be privately financed and maintained, but in case of failure,
we suspect that the Town of Tupper Lake would have to take them
over at the taxpayers' expense.
Financing
Due to the financial risk related to second home and condo developments
around small ski areas such as Tupper, the Preserve Associates
have not yet attracted major financial backing. Their hope is
to secure the project permits from the Adirondack Park Agency,
and then rely on their request that the Franklin County Industrial
Development Agency (IDA) will provide them $54 million in private
long-term bonds. The Adirondack Council finds it difficult to
agree that IDA bonds should be used to finance a high-end second
home resort.
Public Hearings
On January 10, the APA will hold
a Legislative Hearing on the ACR project. This hearing is a venue
for citizens, organizations, and other concerned parties to comment
on all aspects of the proposal. While this is a good start, the
Council believes a larger, more informative hearing before a
decision on a project of this magnitude can be made. In order
to modify a proposal at the APA, a formal, courtroom style adjudicatory
hearing is necessary.
At the adjudicatory hearing,
intricate details of such complex projects are investigated.
Issues to be heard before an Administrative Law Judge are determined.
Expert witnesses, including wildlife biologists, landscape architects,
hydrologists, and specialists in other relevant fields, testify
on the project design. Following the testimony of these experts
and the project applicant, and after examining a great deal of
documentation, the Agency staff will make a recommendation on
how the APA should move forward with the proposed project.
The adjudicatory hearing process
will be a vital step in ensuring that any development allowed
as part of the ACR proposal is appropriate for the scope and
character of the existing community, does not negatively impact
the environment, and does not put a heavy financial burden on
year-round residents of Tupper Lake.
The APA needs to hear
from you about the importance of the adjudicatory hearing.
An outpouring of letters from
the public will ensure that the APA sends this giant development
proposal to hearing, and a proper review is done.
Please write the APA today
and in your own words, tell them:
- The Adirondack Club and Resort
project in Tupper Lake must go to an adjudicatory hearing.
- As currently proposed, the
project would have major local and regional undue adverse impacts
in the Adirondack Park including decline in water quality, fragmentation
of wildlife habitat, and visual impacts. Furthermore, the project's
financing may place a heavy burden on the residents of the town.
- The ski slope should be reopened,
with State financing if necessary. But this meritorious goal
does not justify the massive impacts that would be caused by
the Adirondack Club and Resort development, as proposed.
Please send your letter
before January 19th to:
George Outcalt, Jr.
The Adirondack Park Agency
P.O. Box 99
1133 NYS Route 86
Ray Brook, New York 12977
Fax: (518) 891-3938
Please note: The APA does not have an email address
If you have any questions, please
feel free to call or email us. Also, please send or email us
a copy of your correspondence, if possible. (Our address is on
the front page.)
Thank you!
Please send or email us a copy
of your correspondence, if possible. (Address below.)
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