Planned luxury camping meets resistance, spurs updates to zoning regulations in town of Horicon
By James M. Odato
The purchase of five properties around Brant Lake by an avid glamping developer has propelled a group of residents to draw up regulations to reign in certain kinds of construction.
The move by town of Horicon property owners was triggered by land acquisitions and tree clearing the past few years by Jacob J. Weaver. He bought 67 acres atop Pine Mountain and another 15 acres downhill closer to Brant Lake with beach rights.
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Weaver has been building custom homes and developing luxury camping — “glamping” — retreats in several regions nationwide, including the Adirondacks.
He and partners are developing a potential 46-site campground in Indian Lake on more than 330 acres of the former Wakely Lodge Golf Course. Last year, the Development Authority of the North Country approved a $250,000 low-interest loan for the project. Three 16-by-20-foot tent glamping structures are ready for renting and have been advertised online although the campground lacks a state permit, according to public records.
Brant Lake project causes a ‘stir’
In Horicon, Weaver received town approval for a single-family residence. He built a road up the mountain and installed a tiny one-room structure delivered by truck. It is similar to those used in glamping retreats. He has cleared several acres on the property he purchased on Pine Mountain overlooking Brant Lake and some residents suspect he is taking steps to build a glamping retreat.
Social media accounts for a company he operates, WYLDBNB, showed plans for eight glamping sites and two pavilions on the mountain and eight more glamping sites and two pavilions nearer to the lake.
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This potential project, said Craig Leggett, Horicon’s zoning administrator, has created a “stir” in the community.
Leggett referred to a group of people planning to introduce ridge development regulations, perhaps the first in the Adirondacks, said Douglas Schultz, 61, of Manhattan. Schultz is chairman of a nine-member residents’ committee that is meeting to create the proposed rules for developing on hills and hillsides.
He and relatives have been visiting Brant Lake since they were children and eventually acquired residences in the town. Schultz served as chairman of the Adirondack Council’s Communities Committee.
“None of us want to see the tops of the mountains cleared and have a glass house up there for the benefit of one or two people and at the detriment of the other 500 people on the lake,” Schultz said.
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Owner’s plans could change
Weaver, 37, who is moving from Cleveland, Ohio to Hershey, Pa., says he has been exploring glamping operations nationwide and internationally to learn more about the various types of structures used for guests. He talks about glamping with enthusiasm and says it provides access to the outdoors for many people unable to use traditional campsites. He runs a glamping retreat near Glacier National Park in Montana. He also is building in Vermont and plans a seven-unit subdivision in Bolton Landing.
In Horicon, he said, he has discovered his proposals for glamping and building could be problematic. He said he may just make the Pine Mountain site a family home. “People typically assume the worst with a developer,” he said. “That’s not who I am. Glamping is on an upward trend. Look at all these old hotels that are run down. What I want to build is unique and world class.”
He said he is particularly interested in tree-house units and other lodging structures that would be “eco-friendly.” He also wants to offer amenities like disc golf, farm-to-table dining, educational assemblies and restorative outings for victims of trauma.
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“It’ll depend on what I’m allowed to do up there,” he said about Horicon. “By right, I could do a 12-bedroom inn — a bigger eye sore than tiny homes tucked into the trees.” He says he’s “leaning toward a single-family home.”
Weaver is originally from the Capital Region, a member of a family of firefighters with the Albany Fire Department. He lost an eye in a drive-by flare gun shooting when he was 15 and became a motivational speaker and a school teacher and administrator before moving into real estate development. He said his father had built a camp at Brant Lake for the family and that he has a high regard for the Adirondacks. The founder of Advertise for America, Weaver Brothers Contracting, WYLDBNB and Wild Retreats Hospitality, Weaver said he has been motivated to help the local economy and hopes that will happen at Indian Lake with the glamping complex his group named the Cedar River Eco-Resort.
In Horicon, he said, “If I just did a single family home, that doesn’t create jobs. But if I build a world-class glamping retreat that’s going to create jobs.”
He promises to hold a community meeting should he choose to try developing in Horicon.
Neighbors’ concerns
Residents say they are concerned about the extent of clear-cutting he did atop Pine Mountain. He said much of that was to make room for an emergency vehicle turnaround by removing trees that were blown down by a tornado.
Locals say they are unaware of any tornado damage in Horicon and complain about a ruined view.
“I can see the clear patch when I’m on my boat,” said Cindy Mead, a long-time resident. “And you can see it from Route 8.”
Schultz said Weaver is allowed only to have a single-family residence on his property unless he submits plans for development that are approved by the town, and likely by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). Schultz’s committee, which met for the first time Thursday, intends to submit draft regulations for ridgeline development to the town in a few months, he said.
Such regulations would augment zoning regulations. They could, for instance, limit the top of new structures to well below the crest line so one could not see the silhouette, restrict tree cutting and require downward facing illumination to reduce light pollution.
“We feel like we’re blazing a trail for the Adirondacks,” Schultz said.
Horicon Planning Board Chairman Stephen Mullins said town zoning regulations are outdated and are geared toward lakeside development. “It’s pretty much the wild west when it comes to ridge tops,” he said.
Adirondack Park Agency’s involvement
The APA informed Weaver in a July 21 letter that it wants to investigate his Horicon mountaintop to check whether it needs a permit for tourist accommodations in a rural use land area and for clearcutting more than 25 acres, according to public records.
The agency also notified Weaver on July 18 that he is advertising and booking his Indian Lake campsite without a permit from the APA. The permit application remains incomplete, the letter said. The agency said that he may be failing to comply with the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act but no enforcement action will be taken this camping season. The town of Indian Lake had provided a special use permit for four sites.
Six neighbors of the project site are voicing concerns about potential traffic problems, noise and pollution and oppose the project.
“People don’t like change,” Weaver said, adding that it is unclear how many sites in Indian Lake he will end up developing.
I looked at the photos of the “glamping” tent they’re renting out. It’s not really glamping when all the furnishings look like you picked them up at the Salvation Army or an ADK commnunity’s put-n-take. It’s a “furnished tent”. Nothing glamorous here.