New York City residents are voting on half a dozen ballot measures this election season.
One of those is a statewide question about land use in Adirondack Park, the largest publicly protected area in the lower 48.
Technically, the state is seeking a constitutional amendment to allow the use of 323 acres of parkland for winter sports.
However, what the language of the proposal does not say is that the 323 acres have already been developed. The question is whether voters will bring the area into compliance, allow improvements, and approve the purchase of 2,500 acres of forest land to make up for it.
“This was a good settlement to what could have been a lawsuit,” said John Sheehan, communications director of the nonprofit organization Adirondack Council.
Adirondack Park is a mixture of public and private lands within a six-million-acre boundary. As enshrined in New York’s constitution, the public lands can’t be developed without a constitutional amendment.
The state’s Olympic Regional Development Association, which manages the infrastructure that was built for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, allegedly violated that law. The agency built Nordic ski trails and a lodge at Mt Van Hoevenberg in preparation for national and world competitions.
“We had a choice. We could sue and stop the authority from holding those games. And put a big hole in the Lake Placid community’s tourism budget that year and put a lot of people out of work,” Sheehan said. “Or we could ask for essentially a settlement that would be for the authority to get a constitutional amendment.”
Environmental protectionist groups in the Adirondacks, including the Adirondack Council, have backed the proposal and Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed legislation implementing the constitutional amendment if it should pass.
It’s so far unclear where the 2,500 acres could be added. The legislature will need to approve any purchase and addition.
The state is looking at several parcels elsewhere in Essex County, where Mt Van Hoevenberg is located, Sheehan said. The county abuts Lake Champlain and contains almost all of the state’s 46 high peaks. Converting private to state land would likely open up further recreation opportunities, Sheehan said, since state lands would likely have trails built or opened.
The state is looking to buy parcels elsewhere for Adirondack Park, such as 32,000 acres of forest in Hamilton County, once part of the estate of socialite Marylou Whitney. But Sheehan said he believes the administration will seek to purchase land in Essex County, nearby the original 323 acres, to comply with the amendment.
The county is a study in economic contrasts, Sheehan said, with wealthy residents and investment in Lake Placid, but economic deprivation elsewhere.
The ballot measure does not have truly mobilized opposition. Sheehan said the biggest hurdle for the environmental groups supporting the provision is helping the public understand what it means.
“It’s not quite clear that this is a remediation from the language on the ballot,” Sheehan said. “Our biggest concern is that people, out of legitimate care for the Adirondacks, would vote no because they’re suspicious of what’s going on.”
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