Gitter wants lawmakers to delay vote on resort alternative

By Jay Braman Jr., Correspondent Daily Freeman February 1, 2006

KINGSTON - Dean Gitter, the developer of the proposed Belleayre Resort at Castkill Park, is expected to address the Democratic caucus of the Ulster County Legislature tonight in hopes of convincing the majority party to hold off on a resolution that calls for a scaled-down alternative to his plan.
The caucus, open to the public, is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Legislature chamber at the Ulster County Office Building on Fair Street.
The Democrats, who took control of the Legislature Jan. 1 after being the minority party for 25 years, have been quick to weigh in on the proposed resort - a mammoth development planned for the hills of Big Indian, Pine Hill and Highmount in the town of Shandaken - and are poised to endorse a plan floated last fall by U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey to scale the project back.
At the time, Gitter said Hinchey's proposal, called a "lower build alternative," was not economically feasible.
At tonight's caucus, Gitter is expected to make a last-minute attempt to convince the Legislature to hold off on the vote, which currently is scheduled for next Wednesday.
"We believe it is premature for the county Legislature to adopt any resolution regarding the proposed resort until new members of the legislative body are able to get up to speed on its history," said Gitter spokesman Paul Rakov. "At that point, we would gladly present our plan and discuss alternatives that are economically feasible while also addressing the concerns the legislature might have."
Gitter himself could not be reached for comment.
Kenneth Beesmer, a member of the board of the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce, also asked the Democrats to hold off. In a letter hand delivered to legislators by Chamber President Ward Todd, a former Legislature chairman, Beesmer told the new majority party that approving the resolution would be "a terrible way to begin your tenure."
Legislator Brian Shapiro, a Woodstock Democrat who represents Shandaken, said on Monday that the Legislature's Environmental Committee, which he chairs, already has unanimously supported the resolution and that he is ready to move on it.
Shapiro also noted that the resolution is not about Gitter's plan but about a possible alternative, which Shapiro said the review process requires but Gitter has not supplied.
As for Gitter's request to postpone the vote, Shapiro said: "It's delaying this without purpose."
Shandaken Supervisor Robert Cross Jr. also made an appeal to Shapiro to reconsider. Last Friday, he complained to Shapiro and the Environmental Committee that there's a relatively small amount of buildable land left in town, roughly 3,300 acres, and that Hinchey's plan calls for taking several hundred acres out of the equation.
"Whose interest do you have at heart?" Cross wondered. "Not the town of Shandaken's."
Cross would rather see, at least, some homes on the property if the resort isn't built - because, he said, the town needs to add to its tax base as much as possible.
Shapiro responded that Cross primarily is concerned with the state using the power of eminent domain to force Gitter to sell the land.
"I took his concerns and incorporated them into the resolution," Shapiro said.
A draft of the resolution reads that Hinchey's "lower build alternative" would "transfer the entire environmentally sensitive eastern parcel of the development site to the state for incorporation into the Catskill Forest Preserve without use or consideration of eminent domain proceedings."
Hinchey's proposal calls for only one golf course, instead of the two proposed, and no development on the eastern side of the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center.
The Hinchey proposal also would allow for what the congressman calls environmentally sound development on a portion of the smaller, 718-acre western parcel owned by the developer. A portion of that parcel lies over the border in Delaware County.

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