West Mountain alpine village plan gets pushback at hearing

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

Plans to create an alpine village experience called The Woods at West Mountain were met with mostly pushback Thursday at the first formal public hearing hosted by the Queensbury Planning Board on the major planned development at the West Mountain Ski Area.

Of the 12 spoken and written comments, 11 consisted primarily of concerns about the project, which proposes 252 apartment units, 64 condominium units, 56 duplex units, 65 single-family custom homes and an 80-room hotel at the base of the ski area on a 60-acre tract of undeveloped land that used to be a dairy farm. The 10-year project also envisions a retail plaza with a new main ski lodge and outdoor seasonal dining and seating adjacent to a man-made water feature.

Concerns about the proposed ski-and-stay resort outlined by community members at the meeting included increases in noise and traffic, stormwater runoff reaching nearby neighborhoods, wildlife preservation, and impacts on property values.

Elizabeth and James Hyatt wrote, “The proposed housing units will likely be purchased by non-Warren County residents. They will turn into rentals and will be filled with people that just visit there and do not have a true connection with — or care for — our local community.”

They added, “The construction and development will have a negative impact on our surrounding home values. Who wants to live next to a resort?”

They also wrote, “Thousands of wildlife creatures will be displaced and likely killed off when they flee the noises onto busy roadways.”

Suzanne Blood questioned whether there is adequate demand for the development. “In the era of inconsistent snowfall punctuated by rain, I question the public’s desire to buy into a resort of this kind,” she wrote. “Gore Mountain has much better snow and much larger terrain, yet has many unfilled condos. The hotel in North Creek struggles to stay open and recently sold again.”

A letter writer whose name was not clear when it was read aloud expressed concern about a hotel coming to the area.

“Prostitution, drug sales, human trafficking — I have witnessed all of it at every hotel I have ever worked in,” he wrote. “It is not something I wish to witness in my backyard in the residential part of Queensbury.”

The sole speaker in favor of the project during the public hearing portion of the meeting was Scott Brandi, president of the ski tourism organization Ski NY, who said he raised his family in Glens Falls.

“I think we need to realize that West Mountain, from an economic standpoint, may not be sustainable in the long term,” he said.

“It’s very expensive to run a ski area, to make snow. West Mountain has to compete with Gore and the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which is going to get over $120 million in the governor’s budget this year. They have very competitive ticket pricing. West Mountain cannot survive as a day skiing area.

“This could be a jewel for our community,” he said of the proposal. “It could be an economic engine. It could employ people. It can bring people to our community.”

West Mountain co-owner Spencer Montgomery said at the meeting, “There’s very strong family-focused demand for this product, where people can come as a destination, and at the end of the day you don’t have to pack up and leave or go back to a hotel. You’re right on-site.

“The mountain needs to change to survive,” he added. “I’ve always been very candid about the financials at West Mountain. We’ve had many years of operating loss. I think people sometimes have a misconception that West Mountain is rolling in profitability. That’s not true.”

He said that under the new plan, “We’ll get residual income from the ski-and-stay resort, not just selling ski tickets. Right now ski tickets are about 70% of our income. This would take that number down and make us less reliant on selling lift tickets.

“It would also increase skier visits, because we’d have people coming here signing up for a destination, rather than maybe just showing up when it snows.”

Mr. Montgomery said if West becomes a destination resort, “ski lift tickets may go to just 5 or 10% of our income, and preserve the future of West Mountain.”

The Woods at West Mountain project will go before the Queensbury Planning Board again on Feb. 13 for further review.

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