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CONTRIBUTE TO SAVE THE LAKES "EXPERT FUND"

A Sampling of Save the Lakes Concerns about Hudson River Valley Resort's Draft Environmental Impact Statement

HRVR's Draft Environmental Impact Statement consistently understates or ignores the potential adverse impacts brought about by the gated real-estate/resort development plan for Williams Lake. It is a document characterized by errors of omission, distortions, unsupported assumptions and misinterpretations. The document looks inward, and turns a blind eye to the issues and impacts beyond its boundaries.

Taxes. Generalities continue to paint a positive picture, while hidden costs remain hidden. There is no thoughtful analysis of anything that might occur outside the boundaries of the gated resort. For example, there is no mention of the possibility that the influx of construction workers and operational staff will require additional community services, from schools to income supplements. HRVR simply ignores the issue. HRVR leaves open the possibility of significantly reducing their tax contribution through PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes).

Water Issues. HRVR rejected the independent report that termed the data of their hydrological analysis "worthless." HRVR has resubmitted the same data and conclusions. If the water issues are not correctly assessed, grave consequences could follow - from the "mining" of Williams Lake that would jeopardize the long-term sustainability of the development community, to the release of 86,000 gallons per day of treated wastewater along Binnewater Road and into the Rondout Creek. If HRVR cannot prove beyond question that movement of water in the aquifer and its relation to neighboring supply is well understood, they should not be permitted to build.

Jobs. At full build-out (10 or more years from start of construction), the project would employ 300 "Full Time Equivalents" at an average wage of about $30,000 (while the median household income in Rosendale is about $58,000). The people employed in many of these promised jobs would work only part-time, at a proportionally lower take-home pay and reduced benefits -if any benefits at all. As a result, many of the jobs would fall below the definition of a 'living wage'. There is no consideration of the social impact and cost of this issue. There is no mention of the fact that menial jobs at hotel/resorts are often filled by contract workers imported for that purpose.

Affordable Housing. There is no discussion of the likely influx of construction workers and their families to the area, as a 10-year build-out of this project would reasonably predict. It is claimed that area rental "vacancies" will suffice as affordable housing. No statistics are provided. There is no discussion of upward pressure on area rentals as "vacancies" are filled by newcomers working on the project during construction and during operation. There is no discussion of how rising rental prices would impact current area residents, from students to the elderly, both of whom cannot afford rent increases. There is no mitigation for the long-term job or housing consequences this project could set in motion.

Schools. HRVR considers that the development community will add only 11-57 school-age children. They figure some of those would attend private schools. They do not mention any children of workers or job-seeking newcomers which would add significantly to school taxes. There is no mitigation planned for schools.

Traffic. HRVR has determined that there will be no significant impact to the roads by 10 years of heavy construction traffic, but some impact by an unspecified increase in vehicular trips per day on area roads after full build-out. The DEIS provides a "peak hour" rate of 364 vehicles coming and going. If that is one hour, how many in a whole day? We are left to guess. There is no consideration in the DEIS of how such a suburban volume of traffic will effect the quality of life in the area. In addition, HRVR claims that construction traffic will have no effect on town roads. How can that be? Simple: the DEIS specifically excludes roads maintained by Ulster County and New York State - maintenance that gets its funding from...you. This kind of sleight-of-hand permeates the DEIS. A detailed and thoughtful, long-term analysis of traffic impacts is called for. For example, what transport routes are planned for the transport of heavy materials? What is the REAL potential impact from 10 years of heavy construction followed by many hundreds of additional vehicular trips per day?

Earthmoving and Blasting. A tremendous amount of rock and soil will be blasted, scraped, moved and shaped: 82,500 cubic yards of excess cut material (approximately 6000 heavy truck loads); more than 46,000 cubic yards of rock removal and 8000 cubic yards of trenching, much of it along Binnewater Road. HRVR claims no vibratory impact from blasting. No impact to town roads. No significant noise or air impacts are anticipated. These claims run counter to common sense. HRVR noise analysis does not consider the aggregate effect of multiple heavy machinery in simultaneous operation, but instead downplays the impact of noise by considering the noise-level of one piece of equipment working at a time. There is no consideration of the intense noise of back-up warning horns. HRVR claims that overall noise from construction will fall between "barely perceptible" and "distinctly perceptible" levels, and therefore, no mitigation will be needed. In an aside, they promise that if any mud or dirt gets tracked onto Town roads, they'll clean it up. They omit mention of the potential condition of the county roads that border the project, and therefore no mitigation is foreseen.

Habitat Destruction and Stress on Wildlife. According to the DEIS, an estimated 70.2 acres of the site will be disturbed through grading and the installation of roadways, utility infrastructure and stormwater management features, such as detention basins and swales. 47.29 acres of existing naturally vegetated habitat will be impacted. Almost 20 acres will become impervious surface areas. HRVR claims that "the Project leaves the topography relatively intact and minimizes potential impacts to the extent possible." Only the most general guidelines are given as to how this might be accomplished.

The Loss of Recreational Open Space. The applicant offers vague promises to "collaborate with" other organizations to retain access to a "potential" Wallkill Valley rail trail connector (or a convoluted variant of it). The list of amenities available to day-pass purchasers changes constantly, and the proposed entrance fees are not specified. This makes it difficult to gauge the local recreational value of the project. Swimming in Williams Lake is not among the opportunities available to the public, in spite of the applicant's claim that they will "expand opportunities for public access to the property." While it is promised that the development will continue to hold invitational outdoor events, there is no assurance that the practice would be made permanent. Should the resort management or homeowner's associations decide to stop the practice, there is nothing preventing them from doing so. Permanent public access must be assured, not only for passage through the property of the rail trail, but also for hiking and swimming and special events.

The Gated Community. HRVR continues to publicly distance itself from the term "gated", in a calculated attempt to avoid the public's inclination against such development. However, the DEIS describes "gated" development in detail: private roads and maintenance, homeowner's associations, access limited to residents and guests. To be sure, a "gated" community can decide to stage a bicycle race every now and then. Such events do not mean that a community is not gated, however; they simply mean that permission to enter the grounds is granted for that event. Continued permission depends on written agreements; verbal assurances are inadequate. The "gated" nature of the project should be out in the open, and HRVR steadfastly avoids it.

Alternatives. The applicant is required to discuss how the project compares with four possible alternatives, including one "that evaluates the potential designation and use of the site as permanent and publicly-accessible open space or parkland." The discussion in the DEIS, however, is limited to restating the conclusion of meetings held over four years ago which "considered the goal worthwhile, but concluded that financial and management constraints made such a plan infeasible." And besides, HRVR's "business model does not contemplate" such an alternative, an explanation applied to the other alternatives as well. In considering alternatives, HRVR measures feasibility against the profit-potential of the real-estate component of their plan - of an overall estimated project value of 180 million dollars, 117 million is in the real-estate.

Unavoidable Adverse Impacts. On page 620 of the DEIS it is stated: "Impacts that cannot be avoided include: impacts to land, impacts to terrestrial and aquatic ecology and impacts to traffic." This section is less than three pages long, and it reads like a grudging addition. This is in keeping with the minimization of impacts that characterizes the document.

CONTRIBUTE TO SAVE THE LAKES "EXPERT FUND"
ABOUT THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT   |    THE ISSUES AND IMPACTS    |    SOLUTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES
DOCUMENT DOWNLOADS   |    WHAT YOU CAN DO    |   CONTACT US    |   HOME
Save the Lakes is a member of the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition.