The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) has requested comments regarding the application by the Upper Saranac Marina to expand their marina on Lower Fish Creek Pond. Numerous property owners and environmental organizations are weighing in on the proposed expansion plan in what has become a contentious battle over land use plans, property rights, capacity limits, and free speech.
The newest proprietors of the former Hickok’s Marina, now Upper Saranac Marina, propose an expansion to 92 boat slips and docks up to 200 feet out into the pond. The marina is located on the 79-acre Lower Fish Creek Pond, and is connected to Upper Saranac Lake by way of a narrow .85-mile channel.
Click here for a copy of the sight plan.
Public comments are encouraged but must be submitted by Thursday, April 25.
Or you may submit your comments by email directly to RPcomments@apa.ny.gov . Please include “Project 2022-0218; USL Marina, LLC; John M. Burth” in the subject line to ensure your comments are routed properly.
Click here to view the Upper Saranac Foundation Comment to the APA.
Environmental activist organizations including the Adirondack Council, the Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, Protect the Adirondacks, and the Sierra Club have all expressed concerns that an expanded marina could impact existing aquatic uses, aquatic resources, aesthetic resources, water quality, neighboring landowners, and public safety.
Some organizations including the USF have advocated that the APA should not approve the marina project in the absence of a carrying capacity study as required by the State Land Master Plan and the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest Unit Management Plan.
Protect the Adirondacks stated that because of the intrusive and excessive size of the new docks the applicant proposes to construct, the APA cannot make the conclusion that the project will not have any “undue adverse impacts upon the park’s natural, scenic, aesthetic, ecological, wildlife, historic, recreational or open space resources.”
A full-page advertisement taken out by Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve in a recent edition of the Adirondack Explorer magazine referred to the marina expansion as “Off the Scale: Big Development on a Small Pond”. The ad claims the marina plans to replace existing 8,600 square feet of docks with 34,000 square feet of commercial marina, stating “that’s a four-fold increase” and is “a public safety risk.”
The ad resulted in the owner of the Upper Saranac Lake Marina suing the environmental nonprofit Adirondack Wild and the nonprofit news outlet Adirondack Explorer for libel and defamation alleging the organizations made inaccurate statements with intentional malice. Click here to view the complaint.
In turn, Adirondack Wild and the Adirondack Explorer have requested the Franklin County Supreme Court to dismiss the defamation lawsuit calling it “frivolous” and alleging that it constitutes a “SLAPP” – Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation meant to discourage public comments. Click here to view the motion to dismiss the complaint