For Immediate Release

October 12, 2005

Kingston, NY - Concerned about the extremely harmful impact the planned Belleayre Resort would have on the New York City Watershed and the Catskill Park, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today unveiled his alternative, environmentally sound proposal for the site.  Hinchey's plan would allow for scaled down development at the Belleayre site to proceed, while ensuring that the New York City Watershed remains free of harm.  In addition to the environmental component, Hinchey said that he wants to finalize a plan for the proposed resort so that other economic development in the area, such as the Belleayre Ski Center's expansion, can move forward.

 

"This alternative proposal will ensure that the New York City Watershed, a pristine drinking water source, remains unscathed by development in the Catskills," Hinchey said. "By offering this plan, it is my hope that we can raise public awareness on how much environmental and economic damage the current Belleayre Resort plan would do to upstate and downstate New York.  To move forward with the current proposal offered by the developers would be extraordinarily devastating to the environment and watershed.  If there is going to be development at the Belleayre site, it must be responsible and it must make sense from an environmental standpoint."

 

The current proposal for the Belleayre Resort development project in the Towns of Shandaken and Middletown envisions two hotel complexes, two 18-hole golf courses, hundreds of timeshare units with 99 buildings in total -- spread over mountainsides and mountain ridges on both sides of Belleayre Ski Center, a family-oriented, state-owned facility in Ulster and Delaware counties.  Hinchey has been critical of the plan because, among many other impacts, the plan would pave over 85-forested acres, remove hundreds of thousands of trees and produce storm-water runoff that would severely threaten the quality of New York City Watershed and increase the potential for serious local flooding.  It would also generate a substantial increase in traffic throughout the Route 28 corridor, strain public services, burden area taxpayers, and threaten the integrity of the Catskill Forest Preserve.

 

Last month, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Administrative Law Judge Richard Wissler released an issues conference ruling in the legal proceedings in which the Belleayre Resort developers were seeking approval for their proposed project.  Judge Wissler ruled that the developers have not yet adequately addressed 12 significant and substantive environmental and quality of life issues and that full adjudicatory hearings are necessary on those issues to ensure that any final development proposal satisfies fundamental requirements of state law.  One of the reasons Hinchey offered his own plan is to save both sides significant sums of money to fight their legal battles.

 

The New York Watershed’s water is currently so clean that no filtration system is needed.  However, if the water quality declines to a certain level, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules would force the construction of a multi-billion dollar filtration system.  At that point, one of the purest and most wholesome water supply and distribution systems ever constructed will have suffered a serious and irreversible decline.   Maintaining water quality in the Catskills is also critical to protecting the fisheries that attract so many visitors to the region and the economic benefits they provide.

 

"If the quality of the water in the New York City Watershed declines to the point where a filtration system is needed, it will unnecessarily cost taxpayers billions of dollars.  We can prevent that from ever happening if we put our foot down and resist development that endangers the watershed," Hinchey said. "Additionally, if a filtration system is ever needed, future development projects will not take the environmental impact into consideration as much as before because people will simply throw their hands up and say, 'There's nothing to worry about with the environment since we have a filtration system.'  That is a dangerous slippery slope that would lead to a rapid decline in the quality of the environment and rapid increase in development."

 

Under Hinchey’s, lower-build alternative proposal, the eastern (“Big Indian”) portion of the project, which is located on the environmentally sensitive forestland near the constitutionally protected Big Indian and Slide Mountain Wilderness areas, would be completely protected.  Specifically, the Hinchey plan calls for a sale by the developer of all 1,242 acres to the state for incorporation into the Catskill Forest Preserve, with all of these lands to be protected as “forever wild.”  Regardless of who would take title to this eastern parcel under this alternative proposal, the conditions of such land transfer must include ironclad assurances that the parcel will be protected in perpetuity from all future development.

 

For the western (“Wildacres”) parcel, the Hinchey alternative -- which also takes its cue from Judge Wissler's ruling -- provides for environmentally sound development, consistent with the scale and character of its surroundings and subject of course to full compliance with state environmental laws.  The Wildacres alternative would provide the developer the opportunity to demonstrate in the ongoing state adjudicatory hearing that a redesigned proposal for the western parcel can adequately minimize environmental impacts and safeguard the special and irreplaceable natural features of the project site while promoting economic growth for the central Catskills.

 

"If there is going to be construction of a new resort it makes much more sense to put it on the western half of the site, where it will have less of an impact on the environmentally sensitive New York City Watershed and where there already is some development," Hinchey said.

 

The New York City Watershed is the most important natural resource in all of New York State.  It provides clean drinking water to over 9 million people downstate and thousands of people in Ulster County and elsewhere along the aqueduct as well as to the smaller reservoirs and wells supplying water locally.  Protecting water quality in the Watershed is necessary to ensure the health and well being of all who use these water supplies as well as to preserve the economic vitality of local communities in the Watershed. 

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The Hinchey proposal follows:

 

I am proposing today a solution to address one of the most contentious development disputes ever to have divided this region and its residents -- the proposed Belleayre Resort development in the Towns of Shandaken and Middletown, in the heart of the Catskill Park and New York City Watershed.

 

The Catskills is a region of outstanding beauty.  Catskill Park, comprising more than 700,000 acres of magnificent mountains, streams, meadows and historic hamlets, is one of New York's most significant natural resources.  The roughly 300,000 acres that make up the Catskill Forest Preserve offer some of the state's most enjoyable recreational opportunities.  The region also has a rich cultural and ecological heritage.  It was home to naturalists like John Burroughs, it was the birthplace of American fly-fishing, it was the source of inspiration to the Hudson River School of Artists and it is the watershed for reservoirs supplying more than 9 million people with fresh, unfiltered drinking water.  Truly, this is a place of natural wonder.

 

The Catskills is also a region that tens of thousands of New Yorkers call home.  Over the generations, residents of the Catskills have seen both good and bad economic times.  These days, there is considerable positive news on the economic front in the Catskills although in some areas, economic difficulties are not yet a thing of the past.  The existing Catskill Park communities, the Catskill Forest Preserve and the New York City Watershed have coexisted for more than a century and together they have long served a wide range of needs within the state.  If ever there were a place to make a region's environmental and economic needs work together, it would have to be the Catskills.

 

In their exhaustive 1997 study for the Catskill Watershed Corporation, the consulting firm of Hamilton, Rabinowitz and Alschuler found that economic development in the Catskills could be compatible with sound environmental principles and the protection of natural resources.  Indeed, their report concluded that the region's greatest asset was the region's status as a watershed, which the report projected would help protect its rural character well into the future.  I wholeheartedly agree with these conclusions.

 

The New York City Watershed is the most important natural resource in all of New York State.  It provides clean drinking water to over 9 million people downstate and thousands of people in Ulster County and elsewhere along the aqueduct as well as to the smaller reservoirs and wells supplying water locally.  Protecting water quality in the Watershed is necessary to ensure the health and well being of all who use these water supplies as well as to preserve the economic vitality of local communities in the Watershed.  Degradation of water quality in the watershed would jeopardize New York City's compliance with the Filtration Avoidance Determination granted by the Environmental Protection Agency and force the construction of a multi-billion dollar filtration system.  At that point, one of the purest and most wholesome water supply and distribution systems ever constructed will have suffered a serious and irreversible decline.   Maintaining water quality in the Catskills is also critical to protecting the fisheries that attract so many visitors to the region and the economic benefits they provide.

 

I have been prompted to examine the pending Belleayre Resort development proposal, as advanced by Crossroads Ventures, LLC, because I am convinced that this project -- in its present format -- represents a multi-pronged threat to the rural character and natural resources of the Catskills and the quality of life of our residents.  The proposal envisions two hotel complexes, two 18-hole golf courses, hundreds of timeshare units and 99 buildings in total -- spread over mountainsides and mountain ridges on both sides of Belleayre Ski Center, a family-oriented, state-owned facility in Ulster and Delaware counties.  Among many other impacts, the plan would pave over 85-forested acres, remove hundreds of thousands of trees and produce storm-water runoff that would threaten world-class trout streams and increase the potential for serious local flooding.  The region has seen recently the impact that heavy rains in the Catskills have on towns further down stream.  These impacts would increase in severity if this project were to be built out as planned.  It would also generate a substantial increase in traffic throughout the Route 28 corridor, strain public services, burden area taxpayers and threaten the integrity of the Catskill Forest Preserve.

 

Last month, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Administrative Law Judge Richard Wissler released an issues conference ruling in the legal proceedings in which the Belleayre Resort developers were seeking approval for their proposed development project.  Judge Wissler ruled that twelve significant and substantive environmental and quality-of-life issues have not yet been adequately addressed by the developers and that full adjudicatory hearings are necessary on those issues to ensure that any final development proposal satisfies fundamental requirements of state law.

 

The twelve issues cover nearly every major aspect of the project that has been of concern to local residents and everyone who cares for the environment of the Catskills, as expressed during the public comment period and issues conference.  The issues requiring adjudication, according to Judge Wissler's ruling are:

1. Water Supply and Groundwater and Surface Water Impacts
2. Aquatic Habitat Impacts
3. Storm-water Impacts
4. Impacts to the Catskill Forest Preserve
5. Impacts to Wildlife
6. Noise Impacts
7. Traffic Impacts
8. Visual Impacts
9. Impacts to Community Character
10. Impacts to Secondary and Induced Growth
11. Cumulative Impacts
12. Lack of Suitable Alternatives

 

Judge Wissler's ruling has significant ramifications both for the developers and the residents of the project corridor.  For one thing, it means that no final resolution to this matter is likely anytime soon -- certainly not this year.  Expensive and time-consuming appeals and adjudicatory hearings could last as long as 18 months.  In addition, since it is a procedural ruling, it is still possible that a modified project, similar to the one the developer has proposed, could ultimately receive state approval.  Although the ruling is important, there is not yet any assurance that sensitive lands on the project site will be protected for future generations.  And as long as the proposed project remains in regulatory limbo, other important regional economic initiatives, such as the expansion of Belleayre Ski Center, will likely remain on hold.  The Belleayre Ski Center's expansion should not be victim of this proposed development.  In short, there are large costs and numerous uncertainties associated with continuing on the existing course.

 

Under these circumstances, I am proposing an alternative plan for consideration by all parties to the on-going state proceeding.  This proposal envisions a lower-build alternative, which will help ensure that the region's critical resources will be protected.  It also significantly reduces the impact of this development on Catskills residents who live in the vicinity of the proposed project.  At the same time, this alternative plan provides the basis for environmentally sound development that would be economically rewarding for the developer and economically viable for the local communities and for the Belleayre Ski Center.  It is my hope that all parties will give this alternative proposal careful consideration and recognize that, despite the sacrifices it asks from all sides, it is in the best long-term interests of the Catskills region and its people.

 

The proposed Belleayre Resort development plan, in its current form, is divided into two distinct, geographically separate pieces.  As written, the current plan envisions one 18-hole golf course, one hotel complex and time share units to the east of Belleayre Ski Center.  It also envisions a second 18-hole golf course, hotel complex, private homes and time-share condominiums to the west of Belleayre Ski Center.  Judge Wissler, in his issues conference ruling, distinguished on numerous occasions between the possible environmental and quality-of-life impacts that could be expected on each of these two parcels.  My proposal recognizes these distinctions and takes advantage of the natural bifurcation of the proposed project.

 

The eastern ("Big Indian") portion of the project, which is located on the environmentally sensitive forestland near the constitutionally protected Big Indian and Slide Mountain Wilderness areas, would be completely protected under my lower-build alternative.  Specifically, my alternative envisions a sale by the developer of all 1,242 acres to the state for incorporation into the Catskill Forest Preserve, with all of these lands to be protected as "forever wild."  Regardless of who would take title to this eastern parcel under this alternative proposal, the conditions of such land transfer must include ironclad assurances that the parcel will be protected in perpetuity from all future development.

 

This proposal for safeguarding the entire eastern parcel makes sense for several reasons.  As noted above, the land in question is thickly forested, undeveloped acreage located within the Catskill Park, with significant natural resources in its own right.  Additionally, much of its land has steep slopes that drain into waters that are essential both for recreational fishing in the Park and for the New York City drinking water supply.  Moreover, safeguarding the eastern parcel is fully consistent with my reading of Judge Wissler's ruling and with extensive scientific and technical testimony presented at the public hearings and issues conference.

 

For the western ("Wildacres") parcel, my alternative -- which also takes its cue from Judge Wissler's ruling -- provides for environmentally sound development, consistent with the scale and character of its surroundings and subject of course to full compliance with state environmental laws.  There are numerous options for meeting this standard; I offer three possible development scenarios for consideration.  The first, a natural resources alternative, would focus on such outdoor and recreational attractions as an equestrian center, perhaps a facility for mountain biking and hiking, maybe a fitness center and a hotel.  A second -- residential -- alternative would be comprised of clustered housing, a hotel, restaurant and similar amenities.  A third western parcel alternative, which would proceed only after the most careful environmental scrutiny, would add a golf course to some of the elements listed above.  Across the United States, advances in golf course design, construction and maintenance have indicated a potential for such facilities to address ecological and natural resource concerns and proactively provide for open space and biodiversity protection.  The Wildacres alternative would provide the developer the opportunity to demonstrate in the ongoing state adjudicatory hearing that a redesigned proposal for the western parcel can adequately minimize environmental impacts and safeguard the special and irreplaceable natural features of the project site while promoting economic growth for the central Catskills.

 

(Meanwhile, any western parcel development alternative would need to categorically exclude casino gambling, which should have no place in any development of this parcel.  Gaming facilities are both inappropriate to the special environment of the site and are strongly opposed by residents in surrounding hamlets and villages.)

 

Allowing for limited development on the western parcel, as my proposal does, is justified by the facts and circumstances of the adjudication case.  First, as compared with the land on the eastern parcel, some of the acreage of the Wildacres site has previously been subject to development.  Moreover, Wildacres, while still significant from a natural resources perspective, is, from an ecological standpoint, better suited than the Big Indian parcel for development.  The development of this parcel would also dovetail with and no longer impede the planned expansion of the Belleayre Ski Center, one of the most important economic engines in the central Catskills.  And it remains a fact that some parts of the central Catskills need increased economic investments, provided that they are consistent with the protection of the natural environment of the region.

This lower-build alternative for the Belleayre Resort development project addresses the serious environmental threats posed by a full build-out of the project that were substantiated in Judge Wissler's ruling.  It also embraces the concept that development that complies with state environmental laws can be realized in appropriate locations -- providing economic opportunities to the residents of the Catskills and featuring the unique natural environment of the region.  Furthermore, acceptance of this proposal will release Belleayre Ski Center from regulatory limbo and allow its expansion to move forward, benefiting further the economic circumstances of the Catskills and the State.  It is my hope that parties on both sides of this issue will give careful consideration to the framework for compromise laid out in this alternative and will embrace this opportunity to move forward collaboratively towards completion of a world class, environmentally friendly development that we can all be comfortable with and one that will benefit the region for years to come.