ROUND TOP — Round Top residents continued to share concerns for a proposed resort and spa at the former Blackhead Mountain Resort at a public hearing Thursday.
The Cairo Planning Board continued its public hearing regarding the proposed resort on Crows Nest Road following its first public hearing March 7.
Blackhead Mountain Lodge and Country Club, family-owned and operated by the Maassmann family, closed and was sold in April 2023. After selling the property, the new owners submitted an application for the resort and spa to the board in January, which it discussed at its Jan. 4 meeting.
The applicants, Henry Courtemanche, of R House Hotel Group, and Donald Chick, of DC Hospitality, want to make renovations and site improvements at the site to support a tourist resort, spa and hotel that will include a restaurant and spa available to the general public, according to the Jan. 4 meeting minutes.
After finding out about the development, about 20 Round Top residents created a group opposing the project. The group created a website, Save Round Top, to lay out its thoughts, give residents updates and further details of the project.
The proposed development, according to the Save Round Top website, will keep four of the existing structures but will build at least 87 new buildings, including a 91,000-square-foot lodge, a wastewater treatment plant and an onsite helipad, which according to the application would be used for emergency purposes.
Local residents, however, have said that the helipad will be used to transport people in and out of the resort.
Since the original application, the Planning Board has welcomed the public to address their concerns with it and the developers.
Board member Kevin Hicks said at Thursday’s meeting, since March 7 there has been a separation between the board and the public but he assured everyone that the board was doing its duty.
“We, the Planning Board, work for the town, we are working for you,” Hicks said. “We are Round Top, we are Cairo, so we are working through the proposals the best we can, we are trying to do the best we can. We are not closing the public hearing, there is not going to be construction starting (tomorrow).”
Board Chairman Joe Hasenkopf said it is early in the process and the public hearing will remain open until the project is sufficiently reviewed.
On March 7, Jen Schwartz, Mace Burr and Brenda Obremski shared their concerns in writing and in person.
Mace Burr, a neighboring resident, submitted a letter to the board stating the development will permanently alter the property.
“The application proposes renovation and site improvements to support a tourist resort, spa, hotel and lodge of which a restaurant and spa will be available to the general public. 4 existing structures will remain. Property consists of 3 lots for a total of 105 acres in which the existing ingress and egress will be used,” according to Burr’s letter. “In actuality, the application far exceeds renovation and site improvement. It is a massive construction project that will permanently alter the property, the environment and the rural character of the Round Top community.”
Schwartz agreed that the proposed project will alter the environment of Round Top.
“We have never seen something this size and with so much environmental and infrastructure risk,” she said. “You do something like this and you change something fundamental about the town forever.
“In the initial application that was submitted said there were 212 bedrooms, on the application update in February, that number had grown by 25% to 264 bedrooms,” she said. “So, let’s say two people per bedroom and let’s add in the 200 people that will be full time staff, that’s 772 people. According to the 2020 census, the population for Round Top was 622 people. We will be more than doubling the resource demands on our hamlet.”
Burr’s neighbor Brenda Obremski said the development is too big and traffic on Crows Nest Road would be an issue.
“The whole proposal is simply too big,” she said. “It doesn’t work for the neighborhood and for the neighbors who have to survive the construction.
“When people come to Crows Nest Road, there is one lane,” she said. “Our neighbors just kind of scoot over and we know where the blind spots are; could you imagine a construction vehicle going down and someone trying to go up the hill? Or during the Winter when the ice covers the road and you just slide down the hill? It just doesn’t work.”
At Thursday’s meeting, the same three individuals, addressed the board again.
Burr said the wastewater issue is another one of her concerns.
“I’ve done a lot of research on this, the unidentified stream the wastewater system would dump into is in my backyard and goes to the Shinglekill,” she said. “These systems fail on a regular basis and when a system fails, raw sewage will be going directly to the Town of Cairo’s water supply. In order to move it through my backyard, there needs to be a heck of a lot of water on a regular basis and there is not, so that sewage will be sitting in pockets in the stream and the Shinglekill and in the water system.”
Burr added when she left her house Thursday, a dump truck was attempting to drive down the road, adding construction on the project had already started.
“I was able to get out of his way but there was no room on the road for both of us,” she said. “The trucks have been going up and down the road. The end result was the Cairo Police Department had to show up because damage was done to private property.”
Hasenkopf said the board has not approved any permits for construction.
“To my knowledge, nothing has been issued for them to start construction,” he said. “This board has not approved or issued anything, you (residents) can check with the building department to see if they have anything else.”
Obremski said her concerns remained the same.
“One of the issues is you’re (the developer) trying to run a delivery entrance on a seriously narrow road,” she said. “What had to be called already? The police. That doesn’t happen on our road like ever.”
Schwartz, computer in hand, addressed the developers.
She asked them to be more thoughtful with the planning.
“The narrative is that this is an incredibly, environmentally friendly and sustainable developer, so if that’s true, let’s do something at a scale where there’s no deforestation,” Schwartz said. “You’re looking at a golf-course that’s already deforested. I understand you need to cut down trees for X,Y and Z, but it’s entirely possible for you (the developers) to choose to do a development at a scale that doesn’t mean you (the developers) have to deforest at least 11 acres of mature forest.”
While most of the residents in Round Top and the surrounding area are concerned with the development, former owners of the Blackhead Mountain Resort and Golf Course look forward to what’s to come with the property.
In February, Peter Maassmann said they look forward to seeing what’s next in the property’s development.
“I know the same as everyone else does and I am very excited about what the new owners have planned,” he said in a statement.
At the March 7 meeting, Wally Maassmann said the community has always been changing and everyone is entitled to their opinions and concerns.
“Some of you might know or remember that we did have approvals for six buildings with a total of 35, two-story townhomes on our driving range and there was much opposition to that as well,” she said. “So, after many years of hard and dedicated work of running the resort, a golf course and a public restaurant, which incidentally was not patronized and supported by many of the locals, we decided to sell.
“We knew that most of the prospective buyers who were persistent in trying to purchase Blackhead Mountain would not be well received by the community so we waited for someone, like the people who purchased it,” she added. “We sold to four young men who have a vision. They’re not coming here to destroy our community, as some people seem to think. Let’s not deter them. My family can walk with our heads up high because we feel that we have sold to good people. We welcome the new owners with open arms and hope they will be the first of other investors to help bring back tourism to our area.”
Wally Maassmann agreed with other residents to save Round Top.
“So, let’s save our Round Top,” she said. “Let’s save Round Top so that our children and grandchildren can be proud of the community that they live in.”
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