New York's Belleayre Clears Bigtime Hurdle

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New York's Belleayre Clears Bigtime Hurdle

By Craig Altschul
September 07, 2007

It's taken eight long years of wrangling. But, Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park is quite a bit closer to reality. Gov. Elliot Spitzer joined developers, Crossroads Ventures, LLC, and some supportive environmental groups last week to announce a "greenlight" for a $400 million project. The ski area is owned and operated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, a fact which has often been a bone of contention about the levelness of playing fields resort owners from the private sector.

The truth is the light might be more amber than green, however. The project was introduced in 1999, but has been reshaped numerous times as environmental groups and residents raised red flags.

This is no little deal for the Catskill economy. Consider that the planned resort complex will add 450 full-time jobs and 150 part-time positions to the localized communities of Middletown and Shandaken. It's estimated the project will create 1,800 construction jobs over eight years.

The developer still must get approvals from a variety of entities before the first snow shovel goes into the ground, from town planning boards to the state's Department of Environmental Conservation.

"The project is not a home run, but it is probably on third base, with a pretty good lead off base," Judith Enck, Gov. Spitzer's deputy secretary for the environment who led several months of closed-door negotiations with the parties involved, told The Albany Business Review. "The developer still needs to get all the necessary permits, but you have a diverse coalition, all signing off on an environmentally-responsible, scaled-back proposal. It should pave the way for the facilities to be built."

The new plan may be scaled back, but the scale is still considerable. The resort will include two hotels, a golf course, and two complexes of lodges. Developers hope to begin construction by the end of 2008 and have the resort completed for the 2010-11 ski season.

All of this is not going unnoticed by the privately owned ski areas in New York. Scott Brandi, the new president of SANY (Ski Areas of New York), sent Governor Spitzer a letter requesting that an economical study be conducted that will evaluate the potential negative impact on private resorts located close to Belleayre.

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