FOR MORE INFORMATION:

John Collins, Chairman
Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks
(518) 251-4257 ext. 13

David Gibson, Executive Director
Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks
(518) 377-1452 ext. 301

Dan Plumley, Director of Park Protection
Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks
(518) 576-4430

(Niskayuna and North Creek, NY) In the wake of a North Country judge's decision to dismiss an importance case on the matter, leaders of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks (AFPA), the Resident's Committee to Protect the Adirondacks (RCPA) and many concerned citizens of Tupper Lake have today called for strengthening of environmental review capacity on the matter of the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort at both the town level and Adirondack Park Agency (APA).

Judge David Demarest in his Friday, November 2, 2007 decision fully substantiated the standing to sue of the organizations and the concerned citizens in the law suit questioning the rezoning of 6,400 acres of Tupper Lake lands as a Planned Development District (PDD) and recognized the fact that the rezoning could well merit a Type 1 review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). However, he chose to dismiss the case in favor of the Town of Tupper Lake and the applicant ruling that Class A regional project review by the Adirondack Park Agency would be is sufficiently stringent in terms of environmental review.

The AFPA, RCPA and concerned citizens are still reviewing the decision and considering the option of an appeal of the case.

"First and foremost, we call upon the Town of Tupper Lake as well as the Adirondack Park Agency to really explore how local environmental review and capacity can be strengthened to avoid cases such as this," stated Dave Gibson, Executive Director of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, adding, "the Judge did not take a hard look at the real concerns of many citizens over the lack of serious environmental review on the Town's part prior to rezoning thousands of acres of land for intensive development. We contend this remains a critical question, one that the Judge's decision does not completely extinguish by any means."

To date, 37 years after the passage of the APA Act, only 18 of 105 towns and villages have completed local land use zoning plans under approval by the Adirondack Park Agency, indicative of a major crisis in the lack of local land use planning capacity park-wide.

"It's really not sufficient to solve the problem, that towns in the park can opt solely for APA review and avoid SEQRA review," stated John Collins, Chairman of the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, adding, "there has long been a recognition that towns desperately need to gain their own critical eye towards environmental review if they are to plan for the future and protect resources critical to their communities."

Local resident Elaine Yabroudy, one of dozens of concerned citizens in the case emphasized the need for local review, stating, "as a long-time landowner, we hope that town officials in Tupper Lake will truly enable far deeper, more detailed environmental review at the town level which can best complement APA authority -- authority that as we have seen over the past several years can be deficient if not too weak in and of itself. We need the APA, the Department of State and Governor Spitzer in particular to increase its efforts to expand capacity for such reviews at the town level in the Adirondack Park whenever possible."

Judge Demarest’s ruling did not directly address the Town’s lack of serious environmental review prior to rezoning lands to facilitate development of the Adirondack Club and Resort. “The environmental issues we felt were neglected by the Town were not directly addressed by the ruling. The lack of a hard look at the local review does not make sense in light of the serious issues raised by the Town’s own consultant, the Hudson Group,” stated Dan Plumley, the Association’s Director of Park Protection.

“It’s not automatic” Plumley noted, “that the Adirondack Park Agency will share exactly the same concerns as the local town and resident interests. It makes much more sense to have a deeper discussion and environmental review as suggested by SEQRA at the town level despite Judge Demarest’s decision to dismiss the case.”

While disappointed by a Judge’s decision in their lawsuit against the Town and Preserve Associates, The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks (AFPA), the Resident's Committee to Protect the Adirondacks (RCPA) and many concerned citizens of Tupper Lake agree that the public hearing called by the Adirondack Park Agency will ultimately determine the fate of the application, not the Article 78.

Meanwhile, the parties to the lawsuit agree that any informal discussions with the applicant, Michael Foxman, depends on having all of the issues raised by the application open for dialogue and all of the potential parties at the table. “The developer clearly wants to narrow the public hearing issues and the people invited to informal discussions. That suggests to us he is not seriously interested in improving the project to be more protective of the woods and waters and the community’s interests,” said David Gibson, Association Executive Director.

“Frankly, we will argue that the ten hearing issues of the APA are too narrow in several respects. The only way to move forward is to look comprehensively at this proposal which puts so much of the community at risk. If the applicant refuses to do so, we will urge the APA and Adjudicatory Law Judge O’Connell to begin the adjudicatory hearing. We will be ready to make the case why this application fails the high standards called for by the APA Act,” added Dan Plumley, Director of Park Protection for the Association.

The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks (AFPA) is dedicated to sustaining ecological integrity and mutual well being of natural and human communities of the Adirondack Park. The Association was founded in 1901 being the oldest conservation organization dedicated to the protection of the Adirondacks and Forest Preserve in New York State.

The Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks (RCPA) is a grassroots not-for-profit organization dedicated to the stewardship and protection of the natural resources and human communities of the 6 million acre Adirondack Park in the northern New York State. The RCPA pursues its mission through grassroots organizing, FSC sustainable forestry certification, water quality monitoring, advocacy, legal action and education.

Read Conservation Organizations, Concerned Citizens Call for Strengthening Environmental Review