High build, low build
County Dem caucus supports smaller option for Gitter project

by Jim Gordon Woodstock Times  February 3, 2006

Despite the entreaties of developer Dean Gitter, the majority Democratic caucus of the county legislature decided Wednesday, February 1, to support a resolution favoring the so-called lower build alternative put forward by Congressman Maurice Hinchey for Crossroad's Ventures' $450 million Belleayre Resort proposal on the Ulster County-Delaware County border along state Route 28.
The resolution will be brought to the full county legislature at its February 8 meeting where it could face an uncertain outcome, as only 16 Democrats present at the caucus indicated support for the measure. It takes 17 votes to pass a resolution in the 33-member legislature. Kingston legislators Frank Dart and Peter Loughran voted informally against the resolution, while Alan Lomita spoke against it but wasn't present for the vote and Majority Leader Jeanette Provenzano expressed doubts.
Gitter, in addressing the caucus, indicated his willingness to discuss modifications to his plan, but asked legislators not to pass the resolution.
"It is ill informed, ill timed and ill advised," he said. "Please put it off." He called the Hinchey proposal "not a compromise, it's a fatal blow."
He was countered by Tom Alworth of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, who, as representative of a consortium of environmental groups called the Catskill Preservation Coalition, spoke in favor of the measure. "This resolution is a very responsible solution to what has been a very long, contentious and unhealthy conflict for us all... It is a massive project with many serious environmental problems that remain unresolved..."
The debate went on for an hour or so before the caucus supported the measure.
In the hallway afterward Gitter continued the debate. "This legislature has no power," he said, referring to the fact that the measure is a memorializing resolution that carries no enforcement power. He called the resolution "looney tunes. They are turning their back on tens of millions of dollars of economic development. It's a pain in the neck, but it carries great weight in the public mind and it will be touted by environmental extremists as a victory."
The debate began when the legislative environmental committee unanimously endorsed the resolution in committee January 27.
The measure contradicts the legislature's current resolved position, although that resolution supporting developer Gitter's original proposal, passed in December 2002, was approved when the legislature had a substantial majority of Republicans. Democrats, however, now firmly control the body, 21-12.
"What we are doing in this resolution is supporting a lower build alternative. This is a way to break the impasse where we have an all or nothing mentality on both sides," said Ulster County legislator Brian Shapiro, chairman of the environmental committee. Shapiro was asked why he did not merely seek to rescind the support expressed in 2002 and allow events to proceed from there. "This is a totally different situation," Shapiro said. "What this does, it puts a legitimate alternative on the table. It says here's something the environmental community is supporting. It supports economic development and sound environmental planning."
The non-binding resolution in favor of the lower build alternative was unanimously supported by the legislative committee after a surprise visit by Congressman Hinchey.
Hinchey first spoke about the less intensely built alternative in October 2005, about four years after the huge resort project was officially proposed and several months after a state administrative law judge issued a key ruling saying that twelve complex issues connected to the project required adjudicatory hearings, a costly and time consuming process. Among the issues to be adjudicated, he ruled, is the need for an alternative proposal, as required under state environmental law.
But the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce and the supervisor of the town of Shandaken, where the Ulster portion of the proposed project is located, oppose the lower build alternative.
Paul Rakov, communications director for Crossroads Ventures, called the legislative action "premature" because the developers, as well as the town of Shandaken and others, are appealing the decision to require adjudicatory hearings. He said that new members of the legislature need time to educate themselves on issues around the proposal and said, "At that point we would gladly present our plan and address their concerns." "What really needs to happen is that the concerned parties sit and discuss alternatives that would be economically feasible and would address the concerns people have. We are open to that, but to date we have not been directly approached on that."

800 ACRES TO THE STATE
A January 26 letter to Shapiro from the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce objects to the Hinchey plan because it claims the development would then occur largely out of Ulster County. "In our preliminary view, the Hinchey plan essentially pushes most of the development and its attendant tax and economic development benefits into Delaware County...In essence, we will have the traffic through the county to and from the resort without the benefit of the taxes that will be collected," wrote Ward Todd, Chamber president. He asked that the committee table the proposed resolution indefinitely, to allow further study. And he said the Chamber would provide more information on the matter to the legislature prior to the monthly meeting on February 8. Todd, owns an 11.5 acre parcel immediately adjacent the eastern portion of the proposed project, the portion that would be left forever wild under the Hinchey proposal. Under the plan, a road would be built through that property.
Shapiro said the claim that the lower build alternative would push development to Delaware County was "incorrect" and said he would seek a vote on the matter before the full legislature in February.
"I can appreciate the Chamber's views, but we've discussed it for years. The committee is well versed in this, as are the majority of legislators," said Shapiro.
Legislative chairman David Donaldson, a supporter of the measure, disputed the Chamber's contention that the proposal would send development elsewhere. "About 85 percent of the lesser build alternative would still be in Ulster County, according to maps I have seen," said Donaldson. "Most of the build out is still on the Ulster County side. It's not sending development to Delaware County."
Also speaking against the resolution at the caucus was Shandaken town supervisor Robert Cross. "I'm not supporting the resort project but the lesser build proposal gives 800 acres to the state and that is the worst case scenario for the township," said Cross. He said that Shandaken has so little land suitable for building within the town that taxpayers need every acre to foster a reasonable property tax structure. He said the loss of the 800 acre parcel would represent 25 percent of the developable land remaining in Shandaken and said that it is a flat plateau suitable for building and is the largest single parcel of developable land remaining in the town.
Cross said the lower build alternative would shift the current development ratio of the project from 80 percent in Ulster County to 60 percent in Delaware County.

HIGH STAKES PROPOSALS
The proposed project area is particularly sensitive environmentally because it is located in mountainous terrain within the New York City Catskill and Delaware Watershed and Catskill Park. The proposed project is divided into two related, but geographically distinct developments: the Big Indian Plateau and the Wildacres Resort.
Under the original proposal, the Big Indian Plateau resort would be located on 1,242 acres east of the existing Belleayre Ski Resort, in Shandaken. 331 acres would be developed to build an 18-hole golf course, a 150-room hotel, and 183 additional hotel/time-share units housed in 77 buildings, and related infrastructure. The remainder of the parcel would be left undeveloped.
The proposed Wildacres Resort would be located on 718 acres west of the existing Belleayre Ski Resort in the Town of Middletown, Delaware County. The proposed resort would also have an 18-hole golf course, plus a 250-room hotel, 168 additional hotel/time-share units in 21 buildings, and a 21-lot subdivision of single-family homes, and related infrastructure. A total of 242 acres would be developed for the proposed project. The remainder of the parcel would be left undeveloped.
Hinchey did not offer specifics in his October proposal for a lower build option, but outlined a lower build alternative that largely followed the east-west divide, calling for Crossroads to focus on the 700 acres west of the ski resort, which he said is better suited for development. His proposal would specifically prohibit a casino at the site, saying local residents and officials oppose it.
Hinchey did specify that the roughly 1,200 acre eastern parcel would be acquired by the State of New York for inclusion in its Forest Preserve. It would be kept forever wild to serve as a natural buffer ensuring New York City's water supply remains pure - one of the key considerations. At stake is the water for more than nine million New York City residents, a number that Hinchey points out is likely to grow significantly in the coming decades as supplies elsewhere, like Long Island, continue to degrade. The City is seeking to avoid having to build a multi-billion dollar filtration system by keeping the water clean.

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