Draft Scope Open for Public Comment

Significant changes have been made to the original Belleayre proposal that are memorialized in the Sept. 2007 Agreement In Principle (AIP). The new, lower impact alternative will protect environmental resources and additional protocols required in the AIP will ensure that construction practices and mitigation efforts meet heightened environmental protection standards. (To learn more about the details of the revised project proposal and the parameters of the Agreement in Principle, click here).

The AIP requires that the lower impact alternative will be the subject of full SEQRA review with full opportunity for public review and comment. Consistent with the AIP, on November 21, 2007 the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued a positive declaration for the lower impact alternative Belleayre project, and determined that this action may have a significant effect on the environment. Accordingly, a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS)will be prepared. The Draft Scope for the lower impact alternative conforms with the model draft scope agreed to in the AIP (Exhibit N).

Quite significantly, DEC also issued a Draft Scope for the proposed Unit Management Plan (UMP) for the State-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Center expansion, which will now undergo simultaneous SEQRA review. During the adjudicatory hearings for the original Belleayre Resort proposal, Riverkeeper and members of the Catskill Preservation Coalition made repeated requests for the draft UMP and expansion plans to be made public and argued that both the State-owned and private projects – which are both large and interrelated – undergo simultaneous review. These requests were flatly denied. Now, simultaneous review will allow everyone the opportunity to consider the cumulative environmental impacts of both projects together.

Submit Your Comments Today!

Written comments on the draft scope are due Monday, January 14, 2008. On December 11, 2007 Riverkeeper attended a public meeting regarding the draft scope; we will also submit written comments and urge our members to do the same. Pursuant to the AIP, if further scientific review supports the principles and follows the protocols of the AIP, Riverkeeper does not generally oppose the conceptual lower impact alternative. However, we continue to share community concern on specific issues, and will continue to press for rigorous examination of all outstanding issues regarding the Belleayre Resort and Ski Center proposals throughout the SEQRA process.

Riverkeeper’s concerns include:
• Ridgeline impacts
• Viewshed impacts
• Stormwater controls
• Continuity with community character
• Water use and snowmaking at the Ski Center

As per the Positive Declaration, comments may be submitted to:

Daniel T. Whitehead, Environmental Analyst
Division of Environmental Permits
625 Broadway, 4th Floor
Albany, New York, 12233-1750
Tel. (518) 402-9167
Email: wildacre@gw.dec.state.ny.us (Please ensure your subject line includes the phrase “Scoping”)

History of Adjudication

Riverkeeper Joins the CPC
In 2003, Riverkeeper joined with other organizations to form the Catskill Preservation Coalition (CPC) to seek party status and participate in adjudicatory hearings before a DEC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Other member of the CPC were the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, the Catskill Heritage Alliance, Friends of Catskill Park, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., the New York Public Research Interest Group, the Pine Hill Water District Coalition, Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, Inc., Trout Unlimited, the Zen Environmental Studies Institute.

2005 Issues Ruling
On September 7, 2005, the CPC was thrilled when ALJ Wissler determined that many issues were both substantive and significant and therefore appropriate for adjudication. Adjudicable issues included: (1)Water Supply and Groundwater and Surface Water Impacts; (2) Aquatic Habitat Impacts; (3) Stormwater 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) Secondary and Induced Growth Impacts; (11) Cumulative Impacts; and (12) Alternatives (to the current proposal).

2006 Issues Appeal
Various parties appealed the 2005 issues ruling and the appeal was decided by DEC Deputy Commission Johnson on December 26, 2006. On appeal, only six issues were found to be adjudicable, including: (1) Water Supply; (2) Aquatic Habitat Impacts; (3) Stormwater Impacts; (4) Visual Impacts (for users of the forest preserve); (5) Noise Impacts (for users of the forest preserve); and (6) Alternatives (smaller-scale proposals).

While the CPC was gratified that the adjudicatory hearings would continue to examine many scientific issues, we were very disappointed that other issues – particularly those that would allow further examination of economic, community character, and growth inducing impacts – were rejected.

2007 AIP Negotiations
For approximately eight months, CPC representatives participated in grueling negotiations with Crossroads Ventures, LLC, DEC, New York City, and the Watershed Inspector General that were mediated by Judith Enck for Governor Spitzer. Tremendous progress was made toward creating a lower impact alternative project, which was conceptually memorialized in the September 2007 Agreement in Principle. Riverkeeper believes this was a very successful negotiation, gaining commitments to heightened environmental protections and practices that go above the letter of the law and what could have been won even in the most successful adjudication. However, the CPC had less leverage on local economic and community character issues that had already been rejected as issues for adjudication. Riverkeeper firmly believes that negotiations resulted in many positive steps to address economic issues, and support local recreational tourism and smart growth along the Route 28 corridor. While a few CPC members did not choose to sign the AIP – and Riverkeeper hopes that ongoing concerns will be fully and satisfactorily addressed in the new SEQRA process – Riverkeeper stands by its decision and will continue to actively review and comment on the revised Belleayre proposal to ensure that responsible growth in the Catskills will benefit watershed communities and safeguard water quality.