BILL WOULD STRIP ADIRONDACK
PARK AGENCY’S AUTHORITY TO REGULATE CAMPGROUNDS, PROTECT
WATER QUALITY
Legislation Has Majority-Party Sponsors in Both Houses
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-432-1770 (ofc)
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-456-4512 (home)
Released: Monday, April 10, 2006
ALBANY, N.Y. – The Adirondack
Council today called on state lawmakers who want to protect water
quality and public health in the Adirondack Park to reject legislation
aimed at stripping the Adirondack Park Agency of its authority
to regulate seasonal campgrounds.
A bill (S.5980/A.9456) introduced
by Sen. Elizabeth O’C. Little, R-Queensbury, and Assemblyman
Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, would strip the agency of
any ability to impose rules on the size, operations, wastewater
discharges and density of campsites in sensitive areas of the
Adirondack Park. The bill is due to be considered by the Senate
Finance Committee on Tuesday, April 11.
“If anything, the Legislature
should be looking at comprehensive legislation to strengthen
the Adirondack Park Agency’s authority over development
and water quality, not weaken it,” said Adirondack Council
Executive Director Brian L. Houseal. “This is a big, beautiful
Park with room enough for everyone who wants to enjoy it. It
won’t seem so big or so beautiful if seasonal campgrounds
keep polluting the water.
“This legislation would
legalize what has already become widespread abuse of the rules
on campgrounds in the Adirondack Park,” Houseal said. “In
too many locations, seasonal campsites have been converted to
permanent, year-round residential subdivisions. RVs, which are
supposed to remain only a few months, have attached porches,
drilled wells and permanent utilities. Many seasonal campgrounds
have evolved into mobile home parks, except that they are much
more crowded than mobile home parks are allowed to be under the
APA’s rules.
“Recreational vehicles are
a legitimate and welcome part of the Adirondack outdoor experience,”
Houseal said. “But we cannot allow one group of commercial
landlords to destroy the health and beauty of the Park we all
want to enjoy. If you go from offering seasonal rentals to offering
year-round rentals, jamming the RVs together like sardines will
have a predictable result. Whether they are on a lake, pond or
river, the untreated sewage overflow and stormwater runoff will
cause problems for everyone.”
One feature of the proposed rules
would have required campground owners with year-round residents
to follow the same trailer-density requirements as a mobile home
park. Such a change would still allow 10 times as many residences
per acre than the rules for residential subdivisions allow. Lobbying
by campground owners brought local legislators to their aid,
who in turn called on the Park Agency to withdraw the proposal.
It did.
“Last year’s stalemate
over campground rules served no one’s long term interests,”
Houseal explained. “If that plan was too ambitious, then
we should try to find some common ground and draft a new one.
The last thing we ought to do is stop the process entirely. That
solves nothing. Polluted water isn’t just bad for the ecology
of our lakes and our rivers. It is bad business for the campground
owners and for other local merchants who depend on this big,
beautiful Park for their livelihoods.
“Heavy loads of nutrient
into the water can impair water clarity, cause rampant weed growth
and algae blooms, and leave an unpleasant aroma lingering in
the air,” Houseal said. “That’s the last thing
you’d want to highlight on your tourism brochures.”
Houseal noted that the new legislation
would also prevent the Park Agency from imposing new rules to
prevent the spread of invasive, non-native plant species at campgrounds
and their boat launches.
The Adirondack Council’s
mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character
of the Adirondack Park. Founded in 1975, the Council is an 18,000-member,
privately funded, not-for-profit organization with offices in
Albany and Elizabethtown and with members in all 50 United States.
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