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Conservation Update

January 28, 2008

ADK Raises Concerns About Revised Belleayre Resort Proposal

In September, Governor Spitzer announced an agreement on the Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park development proposal. The revised plan eliminated the entire eastern portion of the proposed resort, the part of the project most visible from and most likely to impact the trails and summits of the state owned Catskill High Peaks.  Since then, we have been carefully reviewing the modified plan and have raised further concerns about both the private development and the proposed expansion of the state-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Center.


In December, ADK Conservation and Legislative Director Marisa Tedesco testified at a state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) scoping session on the modified Belleayre Mountain Project. ADK followed up in January with a letter to DEC, which raised additional concerns. Click here to read the letter.


The letter outlined potential adverse environmental impacts of the Belleayre Mountain Modified Project and Unit Management Plan on the Forest Preserve and the natural resources of the Catskill Park and asked that additional issues be addressed in the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS).


As part of the proposed project, DEC plans to acquire about 78 acres of the former Highmount Ski Center to accommodate a westward expansion of Belleayre Mountain Ski Center. Because that land is within the Catskill Park, ADK questioned whether DEC can legally acquire the land for expansion and development of the ski center without seeking a further amendment of Article 14 of the state constitution. 


Some at DEC contend that the acquisition is allowed under the 1947 and 1986 constitutional amendments, which authorized the creation and expansion of the original ski center. ADK asserts that the 1947 and 1986 amendments apply only to lands actually owned by the state at the time of voter approval. Because the proposed Big Indian Plateau and Highmount acquisitions were not part of the Forest Preserve in 1947 or 1986, those amendments cannot support tree cutting and alteration of the “wild forest character” of these properties. The voters could not have consented to the alteration of lands that were not part of the Forest Preserve at the time that the respective amendments were passed.


ADK is also concerned about the proposal to create ski-in, ski-out access from the private resort to the state-owned ski center. ADK is especially concerned about the prospect of DEC building trails and lifts on Forest Preserve lands for the exclusive or predominant benefit of a private corporation.  


The modified project calls for construction of nineteen single-family houses above 3,000 feet. ADK requested the review process identify and evaluate the visual impacts of these units, and any other structures contemplated in the agreement, on hikers and other users of the Catskill Forest Preserve. The SDEIS should also include a detailed visual impact analysis for DEC’s proposed expansion of the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center. 


The letter also raised concerns about operational noise, cumulative impact on local stream flow and aquatic life, and the impact of lodging on underground and surface water supplies.


ADK will review the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement when it is released and will report on our findings.