Queensbury Planning Board forwards favorable recommendation for West Mountain resort rezoning, calls for EIS

The Queensbury Planning Board voted unanimously on April 10 to forward a favorable recommendation to the Town Board for Apex Capital LLC/Mountain Top Ventures LLC’s petition to rezone West Mountain from Recreation Commercial to a Planned Resort Development and to proceed with Planned Resort Development 1-2024.

The recommendation accompanies a lengthy draft resolution that summarizes the developer’s plan — a multi-phase resort on roughly 365.43 acres that the applicant’s materials show would include an 80-room hotel, mixed-use “Alpine Village,” 427 residential units across several housing types, an amphitheater and other amenities — and asks the Town Board to consider a workforce housing component and to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) because of the project’s size, anticipated 10-year buildout and public concerns about stormwater and traffic.

Why it matters: the Planning Board’s action does not change zoning or approve construction; it forwards the Board’s findings and recommendations to the Town Board, which has been identified as the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) lead agency. If the Town Board accepts the referral, it will steer the SEQRA process that could require a more detailed EIS, additional technical studies and later site-plan and special-use reviews.

The meeting also logged several written community objections. A letter read into the record by Laura Moore, the Town’s land use planner, quoted resident Gretchen Steffan, who said the proposal is presented in concept form and “will have significant environmental, town and community impacts,” called for more complete site plans before rezoning, and added, “I wholeheartedly disagree with the Planning Board.” Another letter from Robert H. Jones warned against creating a “mini urban development” and raised questions about stormwater, sewage, traffic and the effect on neighborhood property values.

Applicant representatives responded to technical questions. Jon Lapper, an applicant representative, said the project’s traffic studies conclude local and state highways have capacity to handle the additional trips but acknowledged “there will be an increase in traffic, but it’s not a significant increase because the road network can handle traffic.” Board members pressed the applicant to consider the possibility that some drivers could reroute through neighborhood streets and asked that mitigation — signage, route controls and construction traffic management — be addressed in later site-plan reviews.

On stormwater, Board member Fritz Stefanzick urged the applicant to examine whether the development could improve existing off‑site flooding conditions rather than merely avoid worsening them. The applicant said stormwater management will be designed to infiltrate and treat runoff and will be reviewed in detail by the Town Engineer and DEC during site-plan review.

The transcript also records applicant discussion of wastewater strategies. Spencer Montgomery said the conceptual plan calls for an on-site wastewater treatment plant that would discharge treated effluent; as an alternative the applicant has considered pumping treated effluent to an in-ground absorption field near the top of the mountain if required. The applicant emphasized that the plan envisions private wastewater and road systems to avoid ongoing Town maintenance costs, and said potable water would be purchased from the Town’s water district.

The Board’s draft resolution documents recommended conditions and technical items for later review — including traffic, stormwater, drainage cross-sections, lighting standards and the amphitheater’s noise/parking details — and notes the Town Designated Engineer identified discrepancies in trip generation and Level of Service (LOS) data that will require further review.

Action taken: Planning Board member Fritz Stefanzick moved to forward a favorable recommendation; Kimberly Bullard seconded. The motion passed unanimously with the following recorded ayes: Ellen McDevitt, Warren Longacker, Kimberly Bullard, Brad Magowan, Fritz Stefanzick, Tom Uncher and Stephen Traver; one member (Brady Stark) was absent.

What happens next: the recommendation and draft resolution will go to the Town Board, which serves as the SEQRA lead agency and will determine whether to require a full Environmental Impact Statement and which technical studies or mitigation measures are necessary before any zoning change or site-plan approvals.

Reporting note: The Planning Board’s vote forwards a recommendation only; any rezoning, SEQRA determinations and site approvals would be made by the Town Board and subsequent permitting authorities.