Developer's Belleayre Resort sign draws complaints, will be removed

By Jay Braman Jr., Correspondent Daily Freeman February 16, 2006

After successfully staving off what he said would have been a fatal blow to his proposed golf resort, the developer of Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park decided it was time to be more aggressive in promoting the project. But part of that effort - a large sign on a truck trailer - has brought complaints, and the sign will be removed.
On Feb. 8, developer Dean Gitter succeeded in convincing a majority of Ulster County legislators to avoid supporting a measure that he claimed would do serious damage to his proposed golf resort project, a plan from U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, for a "lower-build" alternative to the developer's proposal.
The Legislature decision came only after intense effort by Gitter and his supporters, who said many lawmakers knew little about the 1,900-acre project, which Gitter hopes will include two golf courses, two hotels and hundreds of residential units.
On Tuesday Gitter said, "We are encouraged by the Ulster County Legislature's actions last week, sending back to committee a resolution that we believe would have been a fatal blow to the proposed Belleayre Resort. We now have an opportunity to create an atmosphere of understanding among our elected officials and the public at large as to the clear benefits of the project."
Gitter began promotional efforts last weekend when he had a large truck trailer parked near the entranceway to Belleayre Mountain Ski Center with a billboard-style sign on it. The sign, he said, was intended as the beginning of a new effort to educate both public officials and the public as to the major benefits the Belleayre Resort offers locally, countywide, and throughout the Catskill Region.
Parked on land owned by Gitter's company, Crossroads Ventures, the sign was approximately 8 feet tall by 32 feet wide. In red letters over a white background, the sign cites job and tax benefits and urges readers to "Support The Belleayre Resort."
Some readers, like Margaretville resident Bob Anderson, saw a different message.
In a recent letter circulated to area newspapers, Anderson called the sign and truck an "eyesore" and suggested it may be a sign of worse things to come.
"If Crossroads Ventures ... (holds) such wanton disregard to the aesthetics of the area and the environmental continuity of the roadside appeal to put that trailer there, just think of what they have the capacity to do if this project goes forward," he wrote.
Due to these and similar sentiments, the sign and trailer will be removed in a couple of days.
"After listening to feedback from the community, Mr. Gitter has decided to remove the sign," said Gitter spokesman Paul Rakov. "No laws were broken, no zoning violations occurred, and no public official came to us with any legal reason for removing the sign. It is simply that some people didn't like it, and so, it will be removed."
Anderson said the sign was "just another chapter of the Crossroads Ventures big book of bad ideas."

©Daily Freeman 2006

AREA NEWSPAPER
CONTACT INFORMATION

ULSTER/ DUTCHESS

Poughkeepsie Journal
PO Box 1231
Poughkeepsie, NY 12602
(845) 454-2000
For an on line letter to the editor. Fill out this form

ULSTER COUNTY

Saugerties Times
Monday deadline
P.O.Box
Phone:334- 8200
FAX your letter 334-8202
saugertiestimes@ulsterpublishing
(Attention Erica Freudenberger, editor)
P.O.Box 3329
Kingston, NY 12402

Albany Times Union
Times Union
90 State Street
Albany, NY 12207
(518) 454-5091
For an on line letter to the editor. Fill out this form

COLUMBIA COUNTY
The Independent
Indenews (online)

P.O. Box 360
Hillsdale, NY 12529
Phone (518) 325-4400
FAX (518) 325-4497
Parry Teasdale, editor

letters to editor require form through website

***NOTE: Our websites make an effort to glean info for our readers from local papers. This is no way a substitute for subscribing or picking up a local paper. We gratefully acknowledge the efforts local newspapers and publications make to our community.