A constitutional amendment relating to the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex will be on the ballot in November, seeking to make some development at the complex compliant with the constitution. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — In November, voters around the state will have a say on whether the winter sports complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg will be brought into compliance with the state Constitution, and if the state will add land to the Adirondack Forest Preserve. A local green group is urging voters to approve the amendment.

Earlier this month, the state Senate and Assembly approved a bill to amend the Constitution, codifying the existing development of Nordic ski trails and other facilities at Mount Van Hoevenberg into the Constitution and laying a framework for future work there. The exemption of these 323 acres from the Forest Preserve would be offset by the purchase of 2,500 acres of land somewhere in the Adirondacks to add to the Forest Preserve.

For years, the state Olympic Regional Development Authority has improved the facilities at the Mount Van Hoevenberg sports complex it owns and operates — including an Olympic bobsled, skeleton and luge track, and cross-country skiing and biathlon trails. But some of this work — including tree cutting and building construction — has extended into constitutionally protected Forest Preserve.

The solution the state has settled on is to exempt these lands from the Article 14, the “forever wild” clause of the Constitution, and offset with more land in the park being added to the Forest Preserve.

Protect the Adirondacks Executive Director Claudia Braymer said the amendment would resolve these constitutional violations and allow for further development of the lands at the complex.

Ever since Mount Van Hoevenberg’s first Unit Management Plan was created in 1986, nearly every UMP since has noted the need to address the “forever wild” status of the state lands there.

While state-owned ski areas at Whiteface Mountain, Gore Mountain and Belleayre Mountain each have Article 14 amendments authorizing their use, there’s never been a constitutional amendment to explicitly authorize the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex. This amendment would create an authorization similar to these ski areas.

Braymer said she was glad the bill was passed by the Legislature after a very long process, but she’s not counting it as done yet. It still needs to be approved by voters.

Changes to the state constitution require a simple majority to be ratified. The vote, though only impacting the Mount Van Hoevenberg complex, will be taken by voters statewide during Nov. 4 2025 general election. Braymer said they are planning to do a bit of statewide messaging to let voters know what the amendment means.

When ORDA was making updates to its Mount Van Hoevenberg unit management plan in the run-up to the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games, people realized that some of the developments made since the 1980s left town-owned land and extended onto the state Forest Preserve.

Braymer said it makes more sense to amend the constitution than to undo what is already in place.

The green group has, on occasion, sued the state for developments it sees as unconstitutional — such as the cutting of certain snowmobile trails. But in this case, Braymer said they felt it was better to work with the state to update the constitution to bring the development into compliance.

The sports complex is a “premier Olympic facility,” she said, and they want it to be as up-to-date as possible within a framework of the constitution.

“You could say that it’s a win-win,” she said.

The amendment has something for the sports tourism industry, and something for the environmental advocates.

The complex was first developed in 1929 with the creation of a bobsled run that was later used in the 1932 Olympics.

ORDA operates a combined bobsled, luge and skeleton sliding track; trails for Nordic skiing and biathlon events; the Mountain Pass Lodge and various other supporting infrastructure on the 1,039 acres there. The site has played host to two Olympic Games, numerous World Cup and World Championship events and the FISU World University Games in 1972 and 2023.

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The path

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To amend Article 14 of the state Constitution like this takes a long process. Both houses of the state legislature needed to pass the proposed amendment in two consecutive legislative sessions. The proposed amendment passed in the 2023-24 session, and now in the 2025-26 session.

The amendment was crafted by state employees, legislators, green groups and ORDA itself.

Braymer said that the 323 acres that would be authorized to be developed in accordance with the facility’s unit land management plan would not only remedy the developments that Protect! claimed already occurred, but provide some extra room for future expansion.

“It gives some leeway going forward up to the 323 acres to do other things like add additional trails or parking lots … sanitary facilities, offices, lodges,” she said.

An enabling legislation also passed both houses last week. This bill makes sure the amendment is implemented correctly. It details what the land at the sports complex can and cannot be used for. Banned uses include hotels, condominiums, zip lines, swimming pools, tennis courts, all-terrain vehicle use or paths for the public and “other structures and improvements which are not directly related to and necessary for operation, maintenance and public use of the sports complex; or any structure located at or above an elevation of 2,200 feet above sea level used for the sale of any goods, services, merchandise, food or beverage.”

North Country Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, and downstate Sen. Pete Harckham, D-South Salem, introduced the Constitutional Amendment (S.5227/A.7454) and the enabling legislation (S.6888/A.3628) in their respective houses. North Country state Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, co-sponsored the senate legislation.

“Our local Olympic heritage sites need to be preserved for us to continue to grow our regional tourism and recreational opportunities,” Jones said in a statement. “Ensuring that our trails and facilities are prepared for hosting international competitions and training events is critical for the Adirondacks to maintain its long history with the Olympics.”

Stec was pleased the two bills passed the Senate.

“The lack of amendment and enabling legislation has been a longstanding issue that has potentially serious ramifications for the town of North Elba and Essex County,” he said in a statement. “Passing this bill, as well as the amendment last week, brings us one step closer to completing the work and agreement on Mount Van Hoevenberg. This is a major victory for our region.”

The 2,500 acres of land the state would purchase for the Forest Preserve would be somewhere in the Adirondacks.

John Sheehan, the communications director for the Adirondack Council conservation organization, previously told the Enterprise that traditionally, land offsets have been purchased within the same county — Essex in Mount Van Hoevenberg’s case — and the land must be of equal or greater value than the 323 acres at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

To view the concurrent resolution that proposes a state constitutional amendment, visit tinyurl.com/6mdyb4n4. To view the corresponding concurrent enabling resolution, visit tinyurl.com/3dpmjsu4.