RAY BROOK – The developer of a marina on Lower Saranac Lake may have won by losing at a state Adirondack Park Agency meeting Wednesday afternoon.

LS Marina LLC had appealed a third Notice of Incomplete Permit Application from the APA, but the agency and the developer’s lawyer said during the hearing that a verbal agreement had been made the night before.

While nothing is yet formalized between LS Marina LLC and the agency, the marina’s owner, Mike Damp, said it looks like the permit process will move forward.

“Our team has been talking with the staff this week and last, and it seems like they’ve finally started to work through some things,” Damp said. “Now it seems like we’re finally communicating and getting things done.

“It seems like we’re heading in the right direction.”

Damp said communication between the APA staff and his team had been an issue, but those issues seem to have lessened in the last two weeks.

The APA had issued a third NIPA to LS Marina, mainly centering around the impact and plans for wetlands and stormwater management at the two marina sites: at Crescent Bay and Ampersand Bay. LS Marina appealed the NIPA, and that appeal was the subject of the Regulatory Programs Committee meeting of the APA.

The denial of the appeal was agreed on after the two sides said they had reached a tentative deal on the NIPA. The committee denied the appeal because that will allow the two sides to agree on what’s required for the permit to get consideration.

“We’re ready to build,” Damp said. “I tore it all down, (and) it took about five minutes to get that permit. We’ve been ready to build for three years, and (to implement) millions of dollars of improvements.

“It’s hard running a marina when you don’t have one. We’re excited about it. We’re still excited, but it’s been long slog through this whole process. So we’re ready, but we need a permit to start it.

“So hopefully we’ll get it in the next few months.”