Don’t let a massive resort turn Round Top into a resource-draining enclave for the super rich
**Come to the NEXT Public Hearing on Thursday, May 2 at 7 p.m. at the Cairo-Durham Elementary School cafeteria, 424 Main St**
The proposed project is a massive, ultra-luxury resort and high-density “residences” on the former Blackhead Mountain Lodge property in Round Top, NY, a hamlet abutting Catskill State Park. It involves constructing at least 87 new buildings—including a 91,000-square-foot lodge and a wastewater treatment plant—and reengineering the mountainside, rerouting ponds and streams into a giant water basin. There will be 264 guest bedrooms—the former resort had only 22. In peak season, 700-800 people will be on site, including staff. (The population of Round Top is only 663 people.) At least 73.2 acres of land will be “physically disturbed” and more than 11 acres of forest will be cut down. The chairman of the Cairo Planning Board has informally shared with us that it will likely be operated as a Six Senses hotel and residencies, or similar ultra high-end brand. Think of it as an exclusive subdivision for the world’s wealthiest people. Guests who drop in and leave via helicopter (yes, they will build a helipad) won’t visit Main Street, Cairo. These developers promote their projects as sustainable and in touch with nature and the “local community.” But don’t be fooled: This plan will extract Round Top’s most precious resources—water, nature, views, ancient mountains, peace and quiet—for maximum profit, while leaving the people who actually live here worse off.
The Proposed Project
The existing property survey:
The proposed site plan:
What’s at Stake?
If approved as proposed, this project will:
Make Cairo’s only source of drinking water vulnerable to contamination
Create potential water shortages and the risk of dry wells
Deteriorate our roads due to increased traffic, construction vehicles, and delivery trucks
Increase flooding and erosion
Bring an estimated 900 construction workers from private, out-of-town contractors
Cause severe and permanent noise pollution and light pollution
Deforest more than 17 acres of trees on land abutting Catskill State Park
Forever ruin the peaceful character and residential appeal of our rural hamlet
Potentially raise property taxes
And more…
Who We Are
Friends of Round Top is a grassroots group of residents in Round Top, Cairo, and beyond who care about our community and are deeply concerned about the biggest and riskiest real-estate development project that has ever been proposed for our town. We made this website to share clear, comprehensive information and encourage public engagement. We strongly believe in the public’s right to be informed.
We are not against progress. We are against an environmentally destructive, inappropriately scaled overdevelopment that will radically transform the rural character and peaceful lifestyle of our community. We are against a project that will exploit our natural resources to construct a high-density residential resort and the extensive facilities needed to support it. We are against a commercial development that harms quality of life and economic stability for people who actually live and work here while targeting a clientele of “ultra high net worth individuals.”
We wish we had sufficient information to better understand the impacts and risks—but the application the developers submitted to Cairo’s Planning Board is woefully incomplete. We are seriously concerned that the application provides NO plans or permits for the wastewater treatment plant, water sourcing, stormwater management, weekend vehicle traffic, re-engineering of waterways, economic viability, and other high-risk proposals. The environmental “assessments” are so thin they are insulting. The application is full of discrepancies and misrepresentations. Yet the Cairo Planning Board has moved the review process forward regardless.
After two months of receiving questions on email and at meetings, the Cairo Planning Board has still NOT clarified their process nor confirmed what stage of the process this application is officially in. They remain noncompliant with open government laws regarding meeting protocols and public communication.
The Cairo Planning Board has declared itself Lead Agency, which means they have given themselves tremendous power—and responsibility—to determine the fate of our town and our lives. We demand the Cairo Planning Board, as well as all appointed and elected town officials, provide transparency and communication with residents while meticulously reviewing this application under the highest standards of the law.
We demand the Cairo Planning Board keep the public hearing open until 1) the developers have submitted all application requirements including full plans and evidence that all required permits have been filed, 2) the completed application has been evaluated by a team of independent experts, and 3) the public has had sufficient time to review the complete application and expert analysis as well as provide comment. We demand the Board issues a positive SEQRA declaration to trigger an Environmental Impact Statement.
We urge everyone to come to the next Public Hearing on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 7 p.m. Location: Cairo-Durham Elementary School cafeteria, 424 Main Street, Cairo
