Tupper Lake and ACR

Cheers and some sadness as suit ends against Adirondack Club and Resort

December 17, 2014

By TOM SALITSKY - Staff Writer (tsalitsky@adirondackdailyenterprise.com), Adirondack Daily Enterprise

TUPPER LAKE - Christmas came early for supporters of the Adirondack Club and Resort project this year.

On Tuesday, the state Court of Appeals, the highest governing body in New York, dismissed a motion filed by environmentalists: Protect the Adirondacks, the Sierra Club and a private landowner. They were trying to appeal a July decision by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court to dismiss their lawsuit against the state Adirondack Park Agency for approving the ACR project.

The dismissal marks the end of the plaintiffs' legal options and clears the way for the project, first proposed by Preserve Associates in 2004, to begin in earnest. Full build-out plans include overhauling Big Tupper Ski Area, constructing about 650 housing units and building a new marina on nearby Big Tupper Lake.

Michael Foxman of Pennsylvania, lead developer of the resort, was pleased with the decision.

"It's nice to have what was an unproductive waste of time over with," Foxman said in a phone interview with the Enterprise. "Now we can get on to something productive, and hopefully we and the community will both benefit."

Foxman expects the project to move forward quickly.

"We expect to be in the ground this summer," he said. "It's going to take, obviously, a full-court press, but I think that there will be construction activity before the summer is over. Hopefully there will be sales activity even before that."

The resort still needs permits from several agencies such as the state Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but they're expected to be easier to get than the APA approval was.

"There are a number of conditions in the APA approval and in the (Tupper Lake) planning board approval that we have to satisfy," Foxman said. "We've got to show them that we're going to follow all the rules relating to stormwater drainage wetlands, but these are all quantitative things. The engineers figure out what the numbers should be, and then you build what's appropriate, given the numbers.

"Then we'll have building permits. Every time something is done in America, you need a permit. There will be an infinite number of permits over the years, but in terms of, I don't know if you want to call it zoning, because it's more than that in the Adirondacks, we're done.

"I don't think anyone, not even the preservationists, had any thought the court would rule other than as it did. There simply was no merit to their proceeding at any time."

Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, said he was disappointed by the court's decision.

"For all practical purposes, this marks the end of the line in our challenge to the 2012 approval by the Adirondack Park Agency for the 6,000-acre ACR project," Bauer said. "Our objections specifically focused on resource management lands. The APA's decision in the ACR approval was for 80 lots spread far and wide through 4,700 acres, and we argued that that did not conform with the standards for resource management land in the APA Act.

"Unfortunately, the decision by the Court of Appeals will probably embolden even more backcountry subdivisions using pretty poor building designs. We're seeing that now in the southern Adirondacks (near Woodward Lake). The new 1,100-acre subdivision in resource management lands is currently underway, and it's kind of bleaker."

Bauer plans to follow the ACR's progress closely.

"We'll monitor the permitting process by the DEC, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Franklin County IDA, but as far as further legal action, we've exhausted our legal options," he said.

He said his group will also look into changing APA statutes to improve protection of the Adirondack backcountry.

Bob Glennon of Ray Brook, a lawyer helping Protect with the lawsuit and a former APA executive director, issued a statement to the Enterprise via email.

"This is a sad day for the Adirondacks, and for those who love it," Glennon wrote. "And for folks like me, who once believed APA would protect and preserve it. What we have here is an Agency in 'regulatory capture,' which some say is fated to befall all administrative agencies. It has descended to intellectual and spiritual torpor, cerebral miasma at its very worst.

"Would that our Governor, who professes to care about this magnificent natural treasure, exert sorely lacking leadership."

Word of the ruling traveled fast in the Adirondack Park.

"I had a call this morning from the chairwoman of the APA (Leilani Ulrich) congratulating me and the community on the ruling," Tupper Lake village Mayor and Franklin County Legislator Paul Maroun said. "She was very upbeat about it. ... I told her that I would work with her and the agency to ensure that this project goes as planned and is environmentally sound, and I would do all I could to promote that.

"Hopefully, things get started and we can do things to promote both the community of Tupper Lake and the surrounding areas, which I'm certain it will benefit in the long run."

Town Supervisor Patti Littlefield was ecstatic over the decision and said she is ready to see economic progress begin.

"This is awesome," Littlefield said. "I am so thrilled that the ACR stood fast and waited this out and held strong. Congratulations to all of them."

Garry Douglas, president of the North Country Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the North Country Regional Economic Development Council Garry, bid good riddance to the lawsuit.

"This has been a cynical effort to end an opportunity for economic transformation in the Tupper Lake area, and hopefully these delaying tactics are now at an end," Douglas wrote in a press release. "This project has successfully undergone years of review, discussion and examination by the Adirondack Park Agency and others, resulting in a well conceived vision for balanced growth which earned the approval of the state."

The head of an environmental group that wasn't part of the suit, Adirondack Council Executive Director Willie Janeway, said, "I think it's time to move forward."

The Council had supported some parts of the ACR proposal, like reopening Big Tupper Ski Area, and not others, like a group of ridgetop houses that was eventually scrapped. The Park Agency's approval "wasn't the decision that we as the Council would have made, but we recognize it had the authority to make that decision and feel it's time to move on," Janeway told the Enterprise in a previously scheduled editorial board interview Wednesday.

Janeway said his group is working with the Common Ground Alliance - a coalition of government, environmental, business and nonprofit interests - for "science-based reforms" of the APA.

"I don't want to live in the past," Janeway said. "Tupper Lake, we all know, needs a lot of economic help, and for the Park to succeed, Tupper needs to."

He and fellow Common Ground member Teresa Sayward, a former state assemblywoman and Willsboro town supervisor, said there is no economic "silver bullet" for Tupper Lake and that they support a variety of economic development initiatives for the town.

"I think Tupper Lake isn't much different than any other little struggling Adirondack community, and I think diversity is the answer," Sayward said.

The ACR "wouldn't be feasible in a lot of our small communities," she said. "If that's what comes to our communities and we can do it without harming the environment, then bring it on."

Jim LaValley of Tupper Lake is chairman of ARISE (Adirondack Residents Intent on Saving their Economy), an ACR support group that also reopened Big Tupper Ski Area as a volunteer-run venue prior to the ACR's renovations.

"We couldn't be more pleased," LaValley said of the court decision. "It falls in line with previous court rulings, and now it's a matter of the plaintiffs stepping aside and allowing the town of Tupper Lake to move forward."

While it's not the outcome I would have preferred, I don't think anyone is surprised by the decision.  It remains to be seen if the project is actually economically viable and if the developers have the financial wherewithal to make the project a reality.

As for the Big Tupper ski area, don't look for a transformation into a viable, competitive ski area for many years if at all.  Investment in the ski center is contingent on attainment of certain sales goals, and even using the developers most aggressive projections the investment will not even begin until several years into the project.  I think we all know that Big Tupper in its current state needs massive investment (snowmaking, lifts, lodges) if it is to be viable.

Well, it's been thoroughly adjudicated. Time to move forward.

When one thinks about it, this could be a really sweet place to live. Expensive for us sure, but for those with the money I bet it will be a very aesthetic community, it's ADK great camp style buildings woven into the beautiful surroundings. Seclusion. Quiet. The peace, safety and charm of a very small town. Amenities like a stable, nice clubhouse etc  and a Tupper Lake marina, sounds like a truly wonderful summer to this guy.

Tupper, at 41 miles long is a big lake. Lots to experience. You wouldn't get bored with it so quick.

I'd love to spend a summer that way.

Interesting thread title

Snowballs wrote

Well, it's been thoroughly adjudicated. Time to move forward.

When one thinks about it, this could be a really sweet place to live. Expensive for us sure, but for those with the money I bet it will be a very aesthetic community, it's ADK great camp style buildings woven into the beautiful surroundings. Seclusion. Quiet. The peace, safety and charm of a very small town. Amenities like a stable, nice clubhouse etc  and a Tupper Lake marina, sounds like a truly wonderful summer to this guy.

Tupper, at 41 miles long is a big lake. Lots to experience. You wouldn't get bored with it so quick.

I'd love to spend a summer that way.

+1

Snowballs wrote

Well, it's been thoroughly adjudicated. Time to move forward.

When one thinks about it, this could be a really sweet place to live. Expensive for us sure, but for those with the money I bet it will be a very aesthetic community, it's ADK great camp style buildings woven into the beautiful surroundings. Seclusion. Quiet. The peace, safety and charm of a very small town. Amenities like a stable, nice clubhouse etc  and a Tupper Lake marina, sounds like a truly wonderful summer to this guy.

Tupper, at 41 miles long is a big lake. Lots to experience. You wouldn't get bored with it so quick.

I'd love to spend a summer that way.

Snowballs, Don't hold your breath and where did you ever come up with 41 miles long for the lake?
Now we will see if all the grandiose BS comes to pass. And as Jeff Said, Big Tupper needs massive $$$s invested to become anything like a real ski area.
If the Front Street Project at Gore has gone nowhere, why does anyone think that the ACR project will take off?

Palm to forehead. Not this again. Good lord.

Hey, maybe they can put a casino there.

Highpeaksdrifter wrote

Cheers and some sadness as suit ends against Adirondack Club and Resort

December 17, 2014

By TOM SALITSKY - Staff Writer (tsalitsky@adirondackdailyenterprise.com), Adirondack Daily Enterprise

TUPPER LAKE - Christmas came early for supporters of the Adirondack Club and Resort project this year.

On Tuesday, the state Court of Appeals, the highest governing body in New York, dismissed a motion filed by environmentalists: Protect the Adirondacks, the Sierra Club and a private landowner. They were trying to appeal a July decision by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court to dismiss their lawsuit against the state Adirondack Park Agency for approving the ACR project.

The dismissal marks the end of the plaintiffs' legal options and clears the way for the project, first proposed by Preserve Associates in 2004, to begin in earnest. Full build-out plans include overhauling Big Tupper Ski Area, constructing about 650 housing units and building a new marina on nearby Big Tupper Lake.

Michael Foxman of Pennsylvania, lead developer of the resort, was pleased with the decision.

"It's nice to have what was an unproductive waste of time over with," Foxman said in a phone interview with the Enterprise. "Now we can get on to something productive, and hopefully we and the community will both benefit."

Foxman expects the project to move forward quickly.

"We expect to be in the ground this summer," he said. "It's going to take, obviously, a full-court press, but I think that there will be construction activity before the summer is over. Hopefully there will be sales activity even before that."

The resort still needs permits from several agencies such as the state Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but they're expected to be easier to get than the APA approval was.

"There are a number of conditions in the APA approval and in the (Tupper Lake) planning board approval that we have to satisfy," Foxman said. "We've got to show them that we're going to follow all the rules relating to stormwater drainage wetlands, but these are all quantitative things. The engineers figure out what the numbers should be, and then you build what's appropriate, given the numbers.

"Then we'll have building permits. Every time something is done in America, you need a permit. There will be an infinite number of permits over the years, but in terms of, I don't know if you want to call it zoning, because it's more than that in the Adirondacks, we're done.

"I don't think anyone, not even the preservationists, had any thought the court would rule other than as it did. There simply was no merit to their proceeding at any time."

Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, said he was disappointed by the court's decision.

"For all practical purposes, this marks the end of the line in our challenge to the 2012 approval by the Adirondack Park Agency for the 6,000-acre ACR project," Bauer said. "Our objections specifically focused on resource management lands. The APA's decision in the ACR approval was for 80 lots spread far and wide through 4,700 acres, and we argued that that did not conform with the standards for resource management land in the APA Act.

"Unfortunately, the decision by the Court of Appeals will probably embolden even more backcountry subdivisions using pretty poor building designs. We're seeing that now in the southern Adirondacks (near Woodward Lake). The new 1,100-acre subdivision in resource management lands is currently underway, and it's kind of bleaker."

Bauer plans to follow the ACR's progress closely.

"We'll monitor the permitting process by the DEC, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Franklin County IDA, but as far as further legal action, we've exhausted our legal options," he said.

He said his group will also look into changing APA statutes to improve protection of the Adirondack backcountry.

Bob Glennon of Ray Brook, a lawyer helping Protect with the lawsuit and a former APA executive director, issued a statement to the Enterprise via email.

"This is a sad day for the Adirondacks, and for those who love it," Glennon wrote. "And for folks like me, who once believed APA would protect and preserve it. What we have here is an Agency in 'regulatory capture,' which some say is fated to befall all administrative agencies. It has descended to intellectual and spiritual torpor, cerebral miasma at its very worst.

"Would that our Governor, who professes to care about this magnificent natural treasure, exert sorely lacking leadership."

Word of the ruling traveled fast in the Adirondack Park.

"I had a call this morning from the chairwoman of the APA (Leilani Ulrich) congratulating me and the community on the ruling," Tupper Lake village Mayor and Franklin County Legislator Paul Maroun said. "She was very upbeat about it. ... I told her that I would work with her and the agency to ensure that this project goes as planned and is environmentally sound, and I would do all I could to promote that.

"Hopefully, things get started and we can do things to promote both the community of Tupper Lake and the surrounding areas, which I'm certain it will benefit in the long run."

Town Supervisor Patti Littlefield was ecstatic over the decision and said she is ready to see economic progress begin.

"This is awesome," Littlefield said. "I am so thrilled that the ACR stood fast and waited this out and held strong. Congratulations to all of them."

Garry Douglas, president of the North Country Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the North Country Regional Economic Development Council Garry, bid good riddance to the lawsuit.

"This has been a cynical effort to end an opportunity for economic transformation in the Tupper Lake area, and hopefully these delaying tactics are now at an end," Douglas wrote in a press release. "This project has successfully undergone years of review, discussion and examination by the Adirondack Park Agency and others, resulting in a well conceived vision for balanced growth which earned the approval of the state."

The head of an environmental group that wasn't part of the suit, Adirondack Council Executive Director Willie Janeway, said, "I think it's time to move forward."

The Council had supported some parts of the ACR proposal, like reopening Big Tupper Ski Area, and not others, like a group of ridgetop houses that was eventually scrapped. The Park Agency's approval "wasn't the decision that we as the Council would have made, but we recognize it had the authority to make that decision and feel it's time to move on," Janeway told the Enterprise in a previously scheduled editorial board interview Wednesday.

Janeway said his group is working with the Common Ground Alliance - a coalition of government, environmental, business and nonprofit interests - for "science-based reforms" of the APA.

"I don't want to live in the past," Janeway said. "Tupper Lake, we all know, needs a lot of economic help, and for the Park to succeed, Tupper needs to."

He and fellow Common Ground member Teresa Sayward, a former state assemblywoman and Willsboro town supervisor, said there is no economic "silver bullet" for Tupper Lake and that they support a variety of economic development initiatives for the town.

"I think Tupper Lake isn't much different than any other little struggling Adirondack community, and I think diversity is the answer," Sayward said.

The ACR "wouldn't be feasible in a lot of our small communities," she said. "If that's what comes to our communities and we can do it without harming the environment, then bring it on."

Jim LaValley of Tupper Lake is chairman of ARISE (Adirondack Residents Intent on Saving their Economy), an ACR support group that also reopened Big Tupper Ski Area as a volunteer-run venue prior to the ACR's renovations.

"We couldn't be more pleased," LaValley said of the court decision. "It falls in line with previous court rulings, and now it's a matter of the plaintiffs stepping aside and allowing the town of Tupper Lake to move forward."

Interesting article, lots of talk, but funny, I didn't see any mention from Foxman or anyone as to when they plan on actually purchasing the land they are proposing to develop.

Can you say EB-5?

PeeTex wrote

Can you say EB-5?

Franklin County NY spent well over $100000. of taxpayer money trying to get authorization for EB-5 and failed. If you want to read an interesting article on EB-5 google Fortune Magazine EB-5, the 7/24/14  edition has an eye opener.  Even though the EB-5 program is a totally suspect Fed Gov program the chances of ACR qualifying for it are slim to none. And according to all their BS they won't need it, they have Multi Millionaire investors just waiting in the shadows.

No money
No skiing
No buyers
No problem

Tupper Lake is saved.

endoftheline wrote

PeeTex wrote

Can you say EB-5?

Franklin County NY spent well over $100000. of taxpayer money trying to get authorization for EB-5 and failed. If you want to read an interesting article on EB-5 google Fortune Magazine EB-5, the 7/24/14  edition has an eye opener.  Even though the EB-5 program is a totally suspect Fed Gov program the chances of ACR qualifying for it are slim to none. And according to all their BS they won't need it, they have Multi Millionaire investors just waiting in the shadows.

They will go after EB-5 money, they are already going down that path.
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/a-massive-tupper-lake-development-gets-the-green-light/Content?oid=2401960

PeeTex wrote

endoftheline wrote

PeeTex wrote

Can you say EB-5?

Franklin County NY spent well over $100000. of taxpayer money trying to get authorization for EB-5 and failed. If you want to read an interesting article on EB-5 google Fortune Magazine EB-5, the 7/24/14  edition has an eye opener.  Even though the EB-5 program is a totally suspect Fed Gov program the chances of ACR qualifying for it are slim to none. And according to all their BS they won't need it, they have Multi Millionaire investors just waiting in the shadows.

They will go after EB-5 money, they are already going down that path.
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/a-massive-tupper-lake-development-gets-the-green-light/Content?oid=2401960

Um, well, sounds like they're pretty desperate, and, well, open to any source of money at all:

"Recently, Lawson says, he met with Jay Peak Resort co-owner Bill Stenger to learn whether the federal EB-5 investor visa program could play a role. The program provides green cards to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in qualified, job-creating projects.

"I'm willing to look at any and all forms of financing," Lawson says."

Talking about it to another ski area owner and actually getting it are two different things. I wouldn't really have too much faith in a project that needs that kind of "creative" financing, anyway.

And, not exactly a good time to be looking for Chinese and Russian people with money. They're running out of it.

So sad, though. I was thinking how this dream may actually be handed down to a new generation up there, it's been going on for so long. When you ain't got nothing, you ain't got nothing to lose.

It is easy to sit at a distance and surmise what will, or will not happen with the Adirondack Club in Tupper Lake or about the people involved. We have said from the beginning, that our door is always open for anyone to come by and hear directly what the plans are. There are no secrets, and we are excited about the future of our community. If you have questions, instead of posting what you think is fact, please contact us. We’re easy to find and more than happy to meet.

OK, so, what exactly are your plans? We're all ears.

Seems to be something like this:

1. Get ACR approved and defeat lawsuits
2. ??????
3. Profit!

Benny, Mattchuck, etal - it would be much easier to meet in person, instead of going back and forth on a blog.  We would welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss, and you are welcome to call me at 518-359-9440 or email me at jim.lavalley@lavalleyrealestate.com to set something up.  We can arrange to have Tom Lawson and others available, and can meet at Big Tupper, or at the office.   Thanks for your interest and hope to hear back.

That's incredibly lame. You just don't show up in a forum, (I repeat, a FORUM) and make a few cloudy claims, and the just force the issue back into the private sphere. You failed in your social media sales pitch.

Oh, IDK Benny. I don't really blame Jim for not wanting to get it to it here. Too much bashing (right or wrong) on here. I believe he/they have gone in depth here before. Certainly much more than the Ski Bowl Village people have.

Don't blame them for looking at different ways to finance either. Seems prudent.

Hard to say from this point if they will succeed or not. Hard to say if it's a wonderful idea or not. One thing for sure, there has to be some economy inside the blue line. How that's accomplished is the tricky part. If there's no economy, there's no gas stations, food, services or even a tax base which is what pays for roads and their maintenance, police and emergency responders. No roads/maintanence, no access for people to enjoy the park.

The people behind this project have already fought a long costly fight to get to this point.

It always a hard decision. Do we want the ADKs to be preserved wild, pure and pristine ? Absolutely ! Do we want to be able to use it ? Absolutely ! Then, it needs some economy.

Jim LaValley wrote

There are no secrets, and we are excited about the future of our community. If you have questions, instead of posting what you think is fact, please contact us.

OK, I'll bite.  The developer has stated he hopes to have shovels in the ground by this summer.  How many years will it take before the Big Tupper ski area has snowmaking, lifts, grooming and a lodge that are on par with other similar sized ski areas (for example, Titus).  And what is the price tag on all those needed improvements (obviously it's many millions of dollars)?  With all due respect to the ARISE volunteers who have been running the area the past 4 or 5 winters, Big Tupper in its present state doesn't even come close to being in a position to attract enough skiers from out of the area to make a difference in Tupper Lake's economy.