ADIRONDACK & STATEWIDE
ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
CALL ON SPITZER ADMINISTRATION TO HOLD FORMAL HEARINGS
ON CONTROVERSIAL 700-UNIT SUBDIVISION IN TUPPER LAKE
Groups Send Message to Governor & Letter to Park Agency
on Eve of Public Hearing
On Adirondack Club and Resort Project
Released: Tuesday, January 9,
2007
ALBANY, N.Y. - A coalition of regional, statewide and national
environmental organizations today released a letter to Adirondack
Park Agency Chairman Ross Whaley, urging him and his fellow commissioners
to order a detailed, courtroom-style public hearing on a sprawling
700-unit development project proposed for the slopes around a
closed ski area in the northern Adirondack Park.
The APA must call an "adjudicatory public hearing"
(presided over by an administrative law judge) before it can
modify or deny any development permit request for private lands
inside the six-million-acre Adirondack Park. The groups want
that hearing to be as detailed as possible, but worry that Pataki
Administration holdovers are rushing its approval.
If approved, the "Adirondack Club & Resort" would
be the largest development project ever constructed in the 114-year-old
Adirondack Park. A little over half of all lands inside the Park
are privately owned and subject to the APA's land-use rules.
Much is left to the interpretation of the board of commissioners,
which uses a subjective set of measurements to assess potential
environmental damage.
The groups agree that both the Town of Tupper Lake and Park Agency
land-use regulations are too weak to adequately protect open
space, wildlife habitat, water quality, and the small-town qualities
of the nearby Village of Tupper Lake. The groups said the development
would overwhelm local taxpayers and inefficiently spread local
services over a huge geographic range, stealing development potential
from Tupper's historic-but-struggling downtown.
The entire Village of Tupper Lake Board of Trustee and the mayor
have also called on the APA to hold a thorough adjudicatory hearing.
The developer, Michael Foxman, who once directed a Florida Savings
& Loan that lost billions of investors' dollars, wants $54
million in public financing from the Franklin County Industrial
Development Agency to undertake the project. The Franklin County
IDA has never issued a multi-million-dollar loan.
"The reason we are holding a press conference in Albany
today is to alert both the Park Agency and our new Governor that
the Pataki Administration had tried to rush this enormous project
through the approval process before Governor Spitzer can react,"
said Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal.
"The APA hasn't seen a project like this in 30 years and
has never let one of these get so far along in the approval process.
The current APA board ruled in December that the application
was complete, although it is full of glaring shortcomings. We
commend the mayor and village board for calling for the most
thorough APA review possible."
"The Governor oversees the actions of the Park Agency,"
said William C. Cooke, Director of Government Relations for
Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "It is appropriate
for him to intervene and ensure a thorough review of this project.
It is urgent that he act right away."
"The Tupper Lake resort project is completely out of character
with the resource management plan for the Adirondack Park,"
said David J. Miller, Executive Director of Audubon New York.
"In the end, the project's enormity will hurt birds, other
wildlife, the scenic character of the area, and the community."
"Governor Spitzer announced last week that he wants to see
'smartgrowth' planning principles used for new development across
New York. The Adirondack Club and Resort project is a case study
in dumbgrowth. This project seeks to fragment forest systems,
overburden municipal water, sewage, and electrical systems, and
blast away a shoulder of Mount Morris to build high elevation
roads and building sites, all as it builds a new gated community
far from the village center. Even more troubling is the developer's
plan to finance this exclusive luxury private resort project
through a public funding source like the Franklin County Industrial
Development Agency. This project must be properly scrutinized
through a formal APA public hearing" said Peter Bauer
Executive Director of the Residents' Committee to Protect the
Adirondacks.
"Tupper Lake's own consultant has been telling the Town
for months that the project's onsite wastewater treatment proposals,
market research, bonding and payment in lieu of tax schemes are
extremely risky for the Village and Town of Tupper Lake,"
said David Gibson, Executive Director of the Association for
the Protection of the Adirondacks. "The character of
the Town and Village of Tupper Lake and its taxpayers are being
placed at great financial risk, while the Adirondack Park's forests,
soils and waterways are threatened with fragmentation, erosion
and pollution on a large scale on lands that APA considers the
most vulnerable and important in the Park. These are compelling
reasons why the Adirondack Park Agency must call for a full and
comprehensive public hearing."
"We feel it is critical to have a full adjudicatory public
hearing for the Adirondack Club and Resort," said Neil
Woodworth, Executive Director of the Adirondack Mountain Club.
"The hearing must include the critical issue of the project's
impact on nearby Forest Preserve lands."
Others who signed the letter to the Park Agency include the Natural
Resources Defense Council, Regional Plan Association, Sierra
Club and local Tupper Lake residents and officials who oppose
the project.
Why Groups Want Governor Spitzer to Act Immediately
The APA board of commissioners consists of 11 members, all of
whom are appointed by the Governor. None of Governor Pataki's
appointees' terms are due to expire until June. The decision
on whether to call an adjudicatory hearing could be made in fewer
than 30 days after tomorrow's (January 10) informational public
presentation at the Tupper Lake High School. If the current board
of commissioners limits the issues that can be explored in the
adjudicatory hearing to just a few, the entire review could conclude
a week later. The groups have a long list of issues they want
to explore at the hearing.
The Governor has the power to make some changes right away. He
can appoint his own choices for Executive Director and Chief
Counsel, the two most influential staff positions. He can also
make changes to the APA board.
Three immediate changes are the seats held by the Secretary of
State, Commissioner of Environmental Conservation and Commissioner
of Economic Development. Those jobs have not yet been filled,
although the Governor can influence which staff designees are
sent to the Park Agency's next two meetings.
For more information:
Adirondack Council: John F. Sheehan, (518) 432-1770 ofc.; 441-1340
cell
ADK: Neil Woodworth, 518-449-3870
Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks: Peter Bauer,
518-251-4257, ext. 13
CCE: Bill Cooke, 518-434-8171
Association: Dave Gibson, 518-377-1452
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