RAY BROOK — A project that would
change the face of North Creek received the go-ahead from the state
Adirondack Park Agency Friday.
The Ski Bowl Village at Gore Mountain proposal calls
for a 120-room hotel, 34-room inn, 60-room inn, 131 town houses, 80
condominium units, a private lodge, 18 single-family dwellings, an equestrian
center with an indoor riding area and a nine-hole golf course, among
other things.
Proposed by FrontStreet Mountain Development, the
plan calls for the project to be completed in several phases over seven
years.
The vision is to connect trails at the state-owned
Gore Mountain Ski Center with the North Creek Ski Bowl, which is owned
by the town of Johnsburg in Warren County and would be restored.
The project also includes the
exchange of lands between the town and the developers. The property
would be used for creating ski trails. The state Olympic Regional Development
Authority, which runs Gore, would be in charge of the construction of
the ski hut, lifts, eight trails and would manage the operations.
In approving the permits for
the development, APA commissioners lauded the potential beneficial economic
impacts to the project. But several commissioners raised concerns about
aspects of the project they said should be explored more.
Commissioner William Thomas,
supervisor of Johnstown, recused himself.
Commissioner Richard Booth
was the most vocal in his criticism of the project and was the lone
commissioner to vote against approving it. Fellow Commissioner Cecil
Wray abstained because he was in favor of the project but wanted to
see it go to an adjudicatory public hearing, which was proposed by Booth.
“I’m impressed
by many aspects of this project,” Booth said. “I’m
very aware of the many economic benefits this would bring to the Park.”
Still, Booth said four issues
should be explored further in an adjudicatory public hearing. Those
issues were affordable housing, bonding assurance by the developers
so the town would not be left with a financial burden in the future,
and impacts to water quality and the adjoining state land.
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“A
project of this size should be subject to an adjudicatory public hearing,”
Booth said.
The project did go to a legislative
hearing, held in North Creek on March 12. Eighty-five people attended
the meeting, according to APA documents. Eight speakers were in favor
of the project, and three opposed it.
After Friday’s meeting,
Mac Crikelair, project manager for FrontStreet Mountain Development, said
the developers would continue to work with local officials.
“We have a commitment to
the community,” Crikelair said. “We look forward to them on
a wide range of subjects to see how we can help.”
As for affordable housing, which
was one of the most talked-about concerns, he said the workforce would
be likely be local.
“We would like to see our
workforce live within the community and flourish within the community,”
Crikelair said. “Our first priority is to draw our workforce from
the existent community.”
At least two environmental advocacy
organizations were represented at the meeting, including Dave Gibson from
the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, a group that was
on record as wanting the project to go to an adjudicatory public hearing,
although it didn’t oppose the project.
“There are several fiscal
issues, affordable housing issues and resource issues that deserve to
go to hearing and that meet the criteria in the act to go to hearing,”
Gibson said. “The agency, I think, missed an opportunity. One member
pointed out the precedent they are setting here with a large project of
this size.”
Michael Washburn, executive director
of the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, echoed those
thoughts.
“Clearly, any rational
assessment points to the need for additional review,” Washburn said.
“Even this morning, you heard commissioners rationalizing out loud
that there are aspects that they did not know about. We don’t know
the impact on local affordable housing. They don’t understand the
existing economic impacts on the community of North Creek.”
Contact Mike Lynch at 891-2600
ext. 28 or mlynch@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
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