Just Say 'No' to Shawanga Lodge Casino on Top of Shawangunk Ridge

February 04, 2014
NY-NJ Trail Conference

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Just Say 'No' to Shawanga Lodge Casino on Top of Shawangunk Ridge

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February 4, 2014: Mamakating Town Board voted unanimously to endorse a casino at the former Shawanga Lodge site.

January 21, 2014: At a workshop session of the Mamakating Town Board in Orange County, NY, developer David Flaum discussed plans to build a casino on his 345-acre parcel (location of the former Shawanga Lodge) atop the Shawangunk Ridge off Exit 114 of Route 17/86.

The Trail Conference is an adjacent landowner to the Flaum parcel, and we oppose this casino proposal owing to the negative impact it would have on our decades-long efforts to protect the integrity of this spectacular ridgetop as a natural corridor—Gunks Greenway— for wildlife habitat and human recreation. The site overlooks the Basha Kill wetland to the west.

Flaum revealed minimal details, but did ask the Town Board to endorse a casino atop this critically important and visible ridgetop location. The board postponed a decision.  Local endorsement is essential in the soon-to-come competition for rights to build up to two casinos in the Catskill-Hudson Valley region, approved by voters in a vote last November.

Prior to Flaum’s attempted entry into the casino  competition, four sites had been considered frontrunners: The Concord, Grossingers, and Bridgeville in Sullivan County, and The Nevele in Ellenville, Ulster County.  A state commission will select casino sites by Fall 2014.  

The Trail Conference and our partners have challenged massive ventures proposed for the Shawanga Lodge acreage and elsewhere along the ridge for decades  as the "Gunks," part of the Bashakill Wetland System, are an exceptional natural resource, recognized in Town, County, and State Open Space Plans. Additionally, the Nature Conservancy has designated the Ridge as one of the "Last Great Places" due to its rich and unique biodiversity.