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Belleayre Supporters Charge Economic Genocide Demand equity with Hunter, Windham and Gore Mountain Ski Centers
04/30/2008
Outrage and frustration continued to mount in the Catskill region last week following two major announcements impacting the Belleayre Mt. Ski Center. With Greene County issuing renewed calls for audits of Belleayre Mt. and with the announcement of a major public/private partnership to expand New York State owned and operated Gore Mountain in the Adirondacks, Belleayre supporters coined the phrase 'economic genocide' to describe what they see happening here.
Gore Mountain, built on forever wild land in the Adirondack Forest Preserve, is now slated for a massive public and private partnership that would build five hotels in addition to hundreds of housing units all with "ski on/ski off" access to slopes. The project would, make Belleayre the only major ski center without any such development approved, despite the fact that similar mega-building developments at both Hunter and Windham have added hotels, single family mansions, and hundreds of condo units in Greene County in recent years,
According to press reports, not only is the Gore Mountain expansion approved, but it is also funded, creating a high level of anger among supporters of frequently attacked Belleayre Mt. And while the New York City DEP, the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Riverkeeper, and many other environmental groups have signed off on the Belleayre project, the Adirondack Mountain Club and the ski resorts in Greene County continue their attacks on plans for a public and private partnership at Belleayre.
"Economic genocide," was the way local skier and second homeowner Hedi
White described the news. "Major public/private partnerships make sense everywhere else in the world, but here in the Catskills, we can't even replace what we had economically 25 - 50 years ago, let alone create anything new. It is astounding that the state can create an entire Olympic Village in Lake Placid and surrounding communities while talk of resurrecting Highmount Ski Center here sends people to their battle stations."
Joe Kelly, Chairman of the Coalition to Save Belleayre was very adamant. "Gore will now have a major expansion of its facilities and offer ski a on/ski off benefit for the Ski Bowl Village at Gore Mountain when they put up 131 townhouses, 18 single-family homes and five hotels. Every other ski mountain in the universe has these features, including Hunter, Windham, other state-owned facilities and also including private ski facilities on leased public lands. The effort to stop Belleayre Mt. from having the
same amenities is absolutely unacceptable."
Fleischmanns resident and local business owner Todd Pascarella said "I support both the Mountain and the Resort. We are completely dependent on Belleayre tourism, our only source of money in the region. Without that source, there is no money to support the foundation of our economy- it will fall apart," said Pascarella. "Younger people, including my children, need this opportunity so they can have the choice to stay in the area."
While residents and second homeowners are angry about the Gore plan approval, their outrage and contempt are directed at the speed with which the project was reviewed and the fact that the Adirondack Mountain Club and ski centers in Greene County have worked to prevent a similar project at Belleayre Mt. in the Catskills. The Belleayre Resort project, introduced in 1999, now has the dubious distinction of being the longest review process ever conducted using the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Yet the Gore project, which has five hotels compared to two at the Belleayre Resort, and which is also planned in a forest preserve location, spend through the process in just 2 years.
Fairness Issues
The Gore approval added fuel to the fires of Belleayre supporters already furious about efforts from Greene County, Hunter and Windham ski resorts. "The say they're looking for fairness and equity," said service station owner Chuck Perez, "but I don't see any fairness or equity here at all. This is really about a small group of incredibly wealthy people, who are so greedy that they don't want anyone else to have even a small piece of their pie."
Perez went on to note that "by their own numbers, in their white paper report, Hunter and
Windham already have 82% of all skier visits to the region. I guess they won't be satisfied until they have driven us all out of business." He noted that one of the features of a compromise agreement announced by then Governor Spitzer in September was a plan to fund cross-mountain promotions so that all Catskill Mountain Ski areas could work together to increase skier visits to the entire region. "Now we have a major new initiative that will continue to pull skiers north toward Vermont instead of bringing them to the Catskills and that's not good for anyone here."
Rosina Montana, a long-time Belleayre skier and second homeowner, noted that Belleayre serves working class families and disadvantaged youngsters. An access pass program allows all disabled people in the State of New York to ski free at Belleayre Mountain any day of the year. "Where do these people ski when Hunter and Windham get that program eliminated?" Montana asked.
Fighting Back
Supporters of the Belleayre Resort project and the expansion of Belleayre
Mt. have stepped up their activity in recent weeks as threats to the ski center and the resort project mount. Following a rally event and a trip to Albany by 120 supporters, Belleayre Mt. funding that had been removed from the budget was restored. They cheered a report that the New York State Comptroller's office refused to audit Belleayre, which according to supporters, has already been audited and investigated numerous times as opponents try to shut it down. They will now call on Comptroller DiNapoli to stand firm in his decision not to audit Belleayre again.
In addition to maintaining a website www.SupportTheCompromise.com ,
Partners for Progress, a coalition of different groups supporting plans for Belleayre will continue a petition drive, will hold a rally in May and will mount billboards in the Rt. 28 corridor to alert supporters of the need to act. "We will not go quietly," President of Partners for Progress Lewis Kolar said, "The expansion of Belleayre Mountain and the Belleayre Resort are essential to the economic future of this area. Without this progress the area will continue to decline economically and locals will be taxed out of existence. And the jobs that this creates are badly needed."
"We've been fighting for Belleayre too long to give up now," said Kolar as he urged those who feel Belleayre is being unfairly treated to go to the Partners for Progress website and sign the on-line petition. More information is available by contacting Partners for Progress at info@supportthecompromise.com or by calling 845-676-4844.
CONTACT - Lewis Kolar
845-676-4844
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