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Reject resort proposal

To the editor:

I am a longtime resident of Saranac Lake. Lately I have been splitting my time between Saranac Lake and California, where my family lives. For the last few years, it seems that every time I return home for Christmas, this hotel is back in the news. And once again I find myself speaking out against it, as I did at last week’s public hearing called by the Adirondack Park Agency.

The village has already made many concessions to the developer, including reducing the required number of parking spots, after the developers became entangled in legal issues and lost the River Street parking lot. However, the scope of the project was not scaled down, so during times of peak usage, overflow parking will spill into the surrounding neighborhood, creating increased traffic congestion and a hazard for residents, especially children — not to mention the increased everyday traffic at an intersection that already often becomes congested at any time of day.

So what does the village get in return for these concessions and negative impacts on the area? The SEMI-public open space that has been proposed is so trivial that I don’t think anyone has ever even tried to promote it as a desirable new asset for the community. Actually, under the latest revision, this area, I understand, has become a grassy space.

But what about economic growth and jobs? The majority of jobs created by a hotel and restaurant are low-paying service jobs, which do not offer the kind of salary that could support a family. These jobs will not entice our youth to stay local. In fact, housekeeping and restaurant workers would likely have to be recruited from out of town — or even out of the country.

And how about the ability of this resort to bring tourists downtown? Keep in mind that the Lake Flower Resort and Spa is a full-service resort, which means it aims to meet all guests’ needs on the premises. The project includes a restaurant seating 200 patrons as well as a bar and a second, smaller, more elegant restaurant. Both these restaurants might attract diners who otherwise would choose downtown eateries. Also, since the resort is located about a mile out of town, hotel guests can just as easily drive to Lake Placid as to downtown Saranac Lake. Furthermore, guests staying at the Lake Flower Resort are not staying at the Hotel Saranac, where they could easily explore downtown and patronize restaurants and other businesses there.

One last observation I would like to share is how this local issue parallels the controversies in the news that have become apparent during the recent presidential election season. Clearly there was a wave of resentment at “establishment politicians” who seem all too willing to create rules and regulations that favor the wealthy. In this case, the APA is being asked to toss aside its own rules to accommodate some wealthy investors. As Bernie Sanders is fond of saying, it’s time for government to work for everyone and not just the top 1 percent.

All I can hope is that the APA will do its job to protect the village’s natural beauty that many of us in the Village Improvement Society and on the Saranac Lake Revitalization Committee worked so hard to preserve for future generations of residents and visitors alike.

Elizabeth Kochar

Saranac Lake

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