News stories tagged with "adirondack-council"

(01/24/12) Last week's decision by the Adirondack Park Agency to allow construction of a massive new resort in Tupper Lake was a major defeat for environmental groups. Developers of the Adirondack Club and Resort won permission to build more than 700 luxury homes and condos, much of it on timberland that borders the High Peaks Wilderness.

Green activists spent much of the last decade opposing the project, insisting that it would set dangerous precedents for future development. But debate over the resort came at a time when once-powerful environmental groups were disintegrating, faltering under financial strain and deeply divided over the movement's agenda.

As Brian Mann reports, last week's vote could signal a balance of power in Park debates as environmentalists scramble to regroup. more

(01/13/11) Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a green jobs plan in his State of the State address that includes $100 million dollars to promote smart growth and sustainability projects. While environmental groups like the idea, some say it's under-funded from the start. The Innovation Trail's Dan Bazile has more. more

(03/29/10) A movement to establish an economic zone uniting the Adirondack Park is gaining momentum and encouraging new cooperation. A new caucus of the region's Albany lawmakers has reached out beyond party lines, and the economic zone could be an early success.

It won key approval last week from a broad coalition of elected officials, environmental groups and community activists. Chris Morris reports.

(01/04/10) For years, critics have claimed that a prominent environmental group called the Adirondack Council holds too much sway over decisions made by the Adirondack Park Agency. Nearly half of the public members now sitting on the Park Agency commission are former members of the Council's board of directors. State officials say safeguards are in place, preventing any outside group from influencing the APA's deliberations unfairly. But a lawsuit filed in November claims that Park Agency worked secretly with the Council, targeting a real estate developer in Clinton County. Brian Man has our special report.

(11/23/09) An Adirondack businessman is suing the Adirondack Council, hoping to win more than 2 million dollars in damages. Leroy Douglas, from the town of Black Brook, claims that the green group intervened illegally in a state enforcement case involving his property. Brian Mann has details.

(09/11/09) The Adirondack Park Agency approved two new cell phone towers yesterday. Verizon and T-Mobile will build separate towers near the High Peaks rest stop on the Adirondack Northway. These projects come at a time when cell phone service in the Park is expanding rapidly, after years of debate and delay. North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann reports.

(03/27/08) When Republican Governor George Pataki left office, local leaders in the Adirondack Park worried that tensions with Albany and with environmental groups would escalate. The Glens Falls Post-Star published an editorial arguing that it might be time to do away with the Adirondack Park Agency. But as Brian Mann reports, all sides say ties between Park leaders and Albany have actually improved dramatically.

(10/23/07) Late last night two key state Senate committees voted to confirm Curt Stiles as the new chair of the Adirondack Park Agency. Stiles lives on Upper Saranac Lake and sits on the Adirondack Council board. The Governor also appointed environmental attorney and professor Dick Booth from Ithaca and he reappointed Lake Pleasant town supervisor Frank Mezzano. As Brian Mann reports, the appointments drew mixed reviews from green groups and from local government leaders.

(08/13/07) A Philadelphia-based developer has proposed negotiating directly with at least one pro-environment group in an effort to win approval for a second-home and ski resort in Tupper Lake. As Brian Mann reports, Michael Foxman has also suggested that he may make major concessions on his plan to build Great Camp-style estates.

(10/06/06) The Adirondack Council and a group of local residents are suing Lewis County's legislature, hoping to block ATV access to county-owned public forest land. Four-wheel riding is a popular sport in the western Adirondacks, but environmental groups say the vehicles destroy trails and plant life. Brian Mann has more.