Cliff Haven residents urge protections for shoreline, oppose camping in college redevelopment plan

At a meeting of the Clinton County Legislature, residents from Cliff Haven Estates and nearby neighborhoods urged county decision-makers to protect Cliff Haven Beach and surrounding residential shorelines as the county evaluates redevelopment proposals for the Clinton Community College campus. Rosemary Huebner, a board member of the Cliff Haven Estates Homeowners Association, told legislators at the podium that Cliff Haven Beach “is not just a shoreline, it is a legacy.” She said the HOA represents 235 homeowners and asked that the final concept plan explicitly acknowledge the neighborhood’s decades-long stewardship of the bay and designate Cliff Haven Beach as a protected residential shoreline zone that would prohibit commercial access, amplified sound, and nonresident recreational programming. The residents’ pleas centered on safety, access and environmental concerns. Joan Sable, speaking for a neighborhood subcommittee, told the legislature that a steep, rocky slope and an approximately 60-foot drop make the parcel labeled in the tax map as parcel 24.17-5-4 (referred to in the proposals as lake access) unsuitable for the kind of sandy beach access depicted in some planning documents. Sable also cited the 1948 act establishing community colleges in New York State — which, she said, required at least 100 contiguous acres to constitute a college campus — as background on how the land came into college ownership. Jake Snyder, a resident of Cliff Haven, said local history and long-term stewardship make the shoreline unsuitable for camping or a campground. Snyder listed nearby public camping and RV capacity he said already serves the region — citing about 123 sites at Sable Beach, about 152 sites at Cumberland Bay State Park, roughly 60 mooring slips at Point Au Roche State Park and about 200 spaces at the Plattsburgh RV Park — and said those offerings mean a new campground on the bluff would be unnecessary and would strain the neighborhood’s narrow streets and limited access. Rita McDonald, president of the Bloodpoint Homeowners Association on Woodcliff Drive, urged the county to include homeowners in planning and to consider runoff, erosion and fire risk from development on the bluff. “Any activity or construction or destruction that occurs on that bluff occurs in our backyard,” she said, adding that tree removal and inadequate buffering in past projects have caused damaging runoff that reached properties below and ultimately enters the lake. Speakers asked the county’s industrial development authority (IDA) and planning staff to: (1) recognize existing residential use and historical resources in the campus concept plan; (2) prohibit campgrounds, amusement/theme parks and heavy commercial uses adjacent to Cliff Haven and Woodcliff; (3) require noise controls and a buffer zone between any new uses and existing homes; and (4) invite homeowner representation on any advisory group analyzing proposals. Huebner and other speakers said they would submit written comments and supporting materials to the record; meeting staff acknowledged receipt. No formal county action on the Clinton Community College site was taken during the session; the remarks were delivered during the public comment portion of the meeting. Why it matters: The college campus sits above residential neighborhoods and any change in access, traffic or permitted uses could affect navigation on the bay, neighborhood safety and stormwater runoff that reaches Lake Champlain. Residents asked the legislature and the IDA to balance economic aims with protections for existing homeowners and shoreline ecology. The legislature’s agenda that night also included committee reports and a large slate of resolutions that the body moved to approve based on prior committee recommendations. Residents who spoke asked to be included in future advisory work and to have neighborhood-specific constraints reflected in the IDA’s final concept plan.