Resident group reads petition backing Rhinebeck’s legal action against Six Senses/ IHG project; board moves to executive session on related litigation

During public comment, Graham Trask — identified as president of Common Sense Hudson Valley and a resident who said his family’s economic base is in Rhinebeck — read a petition that supports the Rhinebeck Town Board’s legal action concerning zoning practices asserted in neighboring Hyde Park and Clinton related to a proposed Six Senses/ IHG resort.

Trask told the board the petition was signed by 405 people, with roughly 200 from Rhinecliff, and read language urging the town to “protect our community” from what the petition described as efforts to enable a large-scale luxury resort on protected greenbelt and low-density lands. His remarks alleged prior denials by Hyde Park and Clinton zoning boards and criticized a private settlement and zoning changes said to benefit the developer; those allegations were presented as the text of a petition and not adjudicated in the meeting.

Following public comment, the Supervisor moved that the board go into executive session to discuss the Six Senses matter, the Ealy and Benetti lawsuit against the planning board, and two possible statutory attorney appointments; the motion was seconded. The Supervisor invited communications committee members (Debbie Hecht, Chris Travers and Beth House) to participate in part of the executive-session discussion and stated the board did not expect to take action during the closed session. The board recessed into executive session and adjourned afterward.

No formal action on the lawsuit was taken in public during the Nov. 24 meeting; the petition was entered into the record through Trask’s reading.