ROSENDALE � The development of the Williams Lake Hotel and Resort property in Rosendale has become a battleground, pitting the developers, Hudson River Valley Resorts (HRVR) against an organized local citizen group, Save the Lakes (STL). While the STL mission and the HRVR goals may seem quite similar on the surface � to preserve historic and natural resources � there's much disagreement, and even with both sides having comprehensive web presences, public information is scant.

To remedy that, the Shawangunk Journal presents a three article series including the background and history of Williams Lake with an introduction to the controversy, and a question and answer forum with both the STL group and Tim Allred, HRVR's Project Manager.

Williams Lake History
The Williams family ran the Williams Lake Hotel and Resort located in Rosendale for 78 years. In addition to the famous cement-making and mushroom growing businesses of Rosendale fame, the resort put the town on the map as a popular place to vacation and provided year-round activities and entertainment. Even former New York State Governor George Pataki claimed that his summers, as a youth, provided him and his family great fun in the sun, fabulous fishing, and terrific food, and noted that his winters were spent cross-country skiing at this most diverse family get-away.

Williams Lake Series We've provided you with a little history of Williams Lake Resort and the issues regarding its future development. The second part of the series, slated for September 9, will address the issues of water and environment, whether the project is or isn't a gated community, and employment opportunities. The third part of the series will be published on September 16, and will deal with the Draft Environment Impact Statement (DEIS), economics and possible solutions to the current impasse between STL and HRVR. Can they come a mutually agreeable plan?

Walter Williams, Resort patriarch, used to take his guests on rambles relaying the history of Rosendale, the cement mines, mushroom caves, coal deliveries and other interesting archival information. Williams called them "history hikes." In 1986 a guest found these stories fascinating enough to record Williams and transcribe his historic tales into a 12-chapter booklet for resort guests to read.

The foreword of Williams' lengthy story booklet was written by his wife Marianne Williams after her husband's passing: "History, for my husband, Walter Williams, was not just a subject to be studied in school. It was, for him, a way of connecting with all that had gone before him and passing it along to those who would come after. Williams Lake Hotel was his business but it was also his home. And its history, and the history of Rosendale, became his story as well, a story he learned during his many years here and a story he eagerly passed on to anyone who was interested."

Williams first came to Rosendale when his father bought land, beautiful lakes � and what he called a wilderness. He said the hotel was built in the late teens on nothing but the ruins of the cement industry.

"There was huge pile of cement waste, which was called slag or clinker� it was about thirty feet high, about two hundred feet wide at the base, and a couple of hundred yards long, the length of two football fields� And our first task here, in trying to make something of this place, was to level this huge pile of cement slag into the swamp to create a level playground field."

This was just the start of what became a paradise of pleasure, play and pastimes.

Williams Lake Sold, Development Opposed
Anita Williams Peck, Walter and Marianne's daughter started working at her family's business at age eleven. The resort operated on about 50 acres on the east side of Williams Lake from the 1920s through about 2006, when Peck decided to shutter its doors and sell the property. She said the resort needed major renovations that were too cost-prohibitive for the family.

The property was sold to Hudson River Valley Resorts (HRVR), and a $200 million project was proposed. This project, according to HRVR, will revitalize the Williams Lake Resort in a sustainable manner that will preserve historic and natural resources while contributing dramatic economic development benefits to the community.

Said Project Manager, Tim Allred, "The vision of HRVR is a resort residential community focused on wellness and outdoor recreation. The project has proposed a 130-room hotel with related wellness and recreational amenities and 160 residential homes." He added that HRVR is committed to working collaboratively with all parties, particularly during the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) environmental review process.

However, a Rosendale-based group of concerned citizens called Save the Lakes (STL) is opposed to the HRVR project and according to their website at www.savethelakes.us they have a mission: "To protect the natural resources of all the land included in the Williams Lake property and preserve it in perpetuity for the region. We work to insure that the future of Rosendale is planned in concert with community needs and values. We research information and provide data to the public and to area decision-makers."

Furthermore, STL believes that HRVR's current plan needs to have some alternatives in place to reestablish public access, guarantee tax revenues to the town, ascertain there will be no additional infrastructure burden, preserve community character and values, and protect the environment while creating a lasting community asset.

Allred stated that a comprehensive, "good-faith" Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) of over 5,000 pages was submitted to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in March of 2010. However, in early April, 2010 the DEC said that the DEIS submitted by HRVR was inadequate for the purpose of commencing a public review. Officials said the developer needed to revisit wildlife impact issues and requested that an independent Karst expert be hired to review what was submitted by HRVR. All of this is in the process at this time.