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...and Wild Character of the Adirondack Park
From the Adirondack Council website:
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.)
© Copyright 2005, The Adirondack Council
P.O. Box D-2, 103 Hand Ave. - Suite 3
Elizabethtown, NY 12932 - 877-873-2240
342 Hamilton Street, Albany, NY 12210 - 800-842-PARK
info@adirondackcouncil.org
From the Adirondack Council website:
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.)
© Copyright 2005, The Adirondack Council
P.O. Box D-2, 103 Hand Ave. - Suite 3
Elizabethtown, NY 12932 - 877-873-2240
342 Hamilton Street, Albany, NY 12210 - 800-842-PARK
info@adirondackcouncil.org
I suppose writing to the APA is the least one must do.
Happiest in the woods 
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