ABOUT THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

On December 5, 2007, Canopy Development, acting as development manager for Hudson River Valley Resorts, presented to the Town of Rosendale a "concept" design for the proposed development of Williams Lake.

<<< This image shows an aerial view of the lake as it is today, along with a schematic overlay of the Canopy/HRVR proposal.

Who is Hudson River Valley Resorts? To quote from their submission letter to the Rosendale Town Board dated November 20, 2007 requesting "a zone text amendment for the proposed action": HRVR is an investment group that "includes Rick Steele of Longmeadow Capital, Matrix Planning LLC, and Revolution LLC, as well as other individual investors. The corporation was formed for the purpose of acquiring, master planning, and developing the subject property. HRVR has hired Canopy Development, LLC as the development manager of the proposed resort community..."

The project requires a very specific zoning change amendment to proceed, a change that would in fact rewrite Rosendale's zoning code to tailor-fit this "action". The zoning amendment would outline certain development criteria that would apply to the town as a whole, not simply to the development of Williams Lake. It is a zoning change crafted by a developer.

The Rosendale Town Board is being advised that, legally, this proposed zoning amendment can only be considered after the full environmental review process (SEQRA) is complete, a process that could take years given the complexity of the karst aquifer and the wetlands, the endangered species threatened by the development, the historical and geological importance of the site. In effect, the Town's Comprehensive Plan is being circumvented, and it is now the DEC and the SEQRA process that will shape the project and the resulting zoning.

Save The Lakes has received a sound legal opinion that the Town Board DOES have the right to reject a zoning amendment such as this without waiting for completion of a SEQRA review. It should do so for the simple reason that the Town must maintain control of its zoning. It has the right to ask the developer to downsize the real-estate component of the plan, for example. The Town also has the right to ask that the developer reconsider the planned demand on the acquifer, and refrain from disturbing the trails, caves and endangered species habitat. We believe it is in the best long-term interests of the Town to abide by its Comprehensive Plan, and consider the proper revised zoning for this sensitive area NOW, and work with the developer to modify the plan accordingly. As it stands, the SEQRA review process will determine how far the developer can go in environmental terms, then pressure for those limits to be written into the zoning code will follow. Failure to accept the findings of the DEC and thereby approve the resulting zoning could result in the developer filing suit against the Town to recoup the potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in defending the development during the SEQRA review. We believe it is up to the citizens of Rosendale and their Town Board to consider the obvious positive and negative impacts of the project both socially and environmentally, and act proactively in the best interests of the environment, the economy, the Town and the region. These issues are too important to trust to a developer.

Below is a summary map of the proposed CANOPY/HRVR development.

• The "concept" plans submitted to the town, and reproduced above, include a 130 room exclusive, high-end spa hotel (Miraval goes unmentioned, as does any other specific operator), 160 for-sale homes (101 attached townhouses and 59 detached single-family homes) spread throughout the Williams Lake property, including town house condominiums on the lake - all in a gated "resort" community. Although their official plans make no mention of home prices, Save the Lakes was told by Canopy in September of '07 that home prices would start at about a million, topping out with a handful of properties that would exceed in value anything in the region. The recent market troubles led Rick Steele to state that there is now downward pressure on that price-point.
• Also described in the Canopy/HRVR's Planned Resort Special Permit zoning amendment application are private internal roads and "suitable screening and landscape buffers from public roads", "entry gate, security, valet and concierge stations", a skating rink, yoga/meditation studio, boathouse, teahouse, equestrian uses, agricultural uses, a wellness center, a welcoming facility, and "retail or commercial uses including restaurants, bars, gift shops, convenience stores, bank services, and personal services serving the guests or residents of the Planned Resort Special Permit community."
• The proposed development would consume and process as waste-water an enormous quantity of water. The developer estimates water usage to be 158,775 gallons per day. Williams Lake Hotel averaged 17,000 gallons per day. This represents a 933% increase in water consumption and processing from Williams Lake and the aquifer system.
  CLICK HERE TO REVIEW SAMPLES OF PAUL RUBIN'S HYDROLOGY ANALYSIS WORK
• Canopy/HRVR's zoning change amendment also includes permission to construct housing for a "large, on-site work staff" of about 450 people. No further details are provided. Adjacent properties have been considered for parking, sewage treatment, road building for change of access to the lakes/spa/homes, and as an expanded buffer zone. These properties were not included in the requested zoning change amendment, nor were future plans in this regard included in the "concept" plan Canopy/HRVR submitted.

• The centerpiece of the development is Williams Lake (aka Fifth Lake), Third Binnewater Lake and Fourth Binnewater Lake, a total of 739 acres. This renowned and historic natural cement-mining area is all the property owned by Binnewater Realty Corp and Ulster County Construction Company, Inc., whose majority shareholder was previously Anita Peck, but is now HRVR. 416 of these acres are subject to conservation easement by the Rondout-Esopus Land Conservancy. The parcels are: 62.4-1-13.1, 62.4-1-15.1, 62.4-1-16, 62.4-1-17 and 62.4-2-39. They are shown in bright red on the map.
• Parcels 62.4-9-1 and 62.11-1-13.1, totalling 80 acres, to the west of Williams Lake and Binnewater Road for large detached houses. These are being purchased from Anita Peck individually, and Anita's sister, Barbara-Anne Battelle. Each of these parcels includes some lake frontage on the west side of Williams Lake.
• The total of all of these properties is 819 acres, more or less. According to the Town of Rosendale website, the town encompasses a total of 20.8 square miles. 819 acres is 1.28 square miles.
• The properties listed above comprise 6.15% of Rosendale.