Future plans for 36,600-acre Whitney estate may be limited by past decisions

Any development for Whitney Park would require approval of master plan by Adirondack Park Agency

By James M. Odato

The developer planning to purchase the 36,600-acre Adirondack expanse called Whitney Park faces potential hurdles based on state conditions written into permits affecting the property.

According to permission granted in the 1990s, Whitney Park’s owners were authorized to do some limited development, but with strings attached going forward. The projects included subdividing three lots to build seven single-family dwellings and another to subdivide four lots, considered minimal.

The permits from the Adirondack Park Agency spelled out that the APA reserves the right to require a master plan for any future development to guard the “unique resources” of Whitney Park.

Master plan requirement could slow development

The agency, the permit language said, was concerned about the cumulative impact that further development could have on the vast private holding of wetlands, lakes, ponds and forests, located in the town of Long Lake.

The APA, which regulates development in the 6-million acre Adirondack Park, included the master plan condition in three permits issued for projects that the owners, Whitney Industries, proposed in the decade of the 1990s.

According to those permits, the master plan condition is in play for any owner of the property.

The condition would confront Todd Interests, which intends to acquire the property to build a resort. The Dallas, Texas-based development company entered into a purchase deal this spring with the estate of John Hendrickson, who headed Whitney Industries. The estate listed the property at $125 million with the net proceeds going to Long Lake for its unrestricted use.

The master plan requirement, if triggered by the APA, would not be a fatal blow to Todd Interests’ plans for the acreage, such as a golf course, lodging and potential hotel and subdivisions. But it would add to the planning costs and timeline, said Robert Glennon, the APA’s executive director at the time the conditions were established.

The key condition, first raised in a 1992 permit filed in the Hamilton County clerk’s office, says that the APA reserves “the right to require a master plan prior to approving any future jurisdictional activities.” 

The justification was “so that overall and cumulative impacts can be considered and addressed.”

The provision described a master plan as providing “sufficient detail to allow the agency to assess the impacts of all new land use, development and subdivision proposed.” Whitney Industries, or its successor, is bound by the term, the permit states.

The requirement is in effect should any project involving adding “principal buildings” or any hunting or fishing cabins exceeding 500 square feet in size.

Glennon, in an interview, said he would hold the APA to requiring the master plan should Todd Interests pursue the development its chairman, Shawn Todd, has described. 

“The greenie meanies would sue the APA if they didn’t enforce it,” said Glennon, who is a board member of Protect the Adirondacks.

Shawn Todd said the company could, for instance, subdivide property to construct 40-acre residences along roads already on the property. Indeed, APA law allows for subdivisions on about 42 acres in areas such as Whitney Park.

Todd said he is aware of APA oversight of private development and that he has architects, planners and consultants working on ideas. He noted that if his company opts for a “compact” development with amenities, such as a high-end golf course, perhaps 1,000 to 2,000 acres would be used. Even if Todd Interests developed 5,000 acres, he said, the amount of acreage used would be “de minimis” compared to the size of Whitney Park. He did not respond to an inquiry about the APA permit conditions.

Environmental groups keeping watch over Whitney’s future

Claudia Braymer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, said she hopes that the provision in the APA permits isn’t an issue and that the group doesn’t need to argue about it, adding that Protect will be on watch for “the long haul” as plans unfold.

Instead, she hopes that Todd Interests will protect a great deal of the property through conservation easements.

Shawn Todd has said he is open to considering easements.

David Gibson, managing partner of Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, said his group will also be pushing for preservation and conservation. He said there is plenty of developable land around the great camp at Whitney Park, the 17-room Deerlands, but the northern and western portions of the property are wetlands unsuitable for construction.

One of the largest contiguous privately-owned landholdings in the Adirondacks, Whitney Park is home to “exceptional” geological and aesthetic features, several critical habitats for rare plants species and various wildlife, some of which are protected or threatened, including osprey, loons and spruce grouse, according to the 1996 permit.

“The open space and ecological values of properties of this size and containing these resources diminishes rapidly as they are subdivided,” the permit states.

John Sheehan, a spokesman for the Adirondack Council, said the master plan provision came up when Whitney Industries proposed subdividing and selling part of Whitney Park in the late 1990s. But the potential requirement was put aside because the state purchased the 15,000 acres for sale at the time to add to the Adirondack Forest Preserve

The provision gives the APA “a tool … if they want to use it,” Sheehan said.

Photo at top: Part of Whitney Park, a private estate in the central Adirondacks, is seen here, with the Whitney camp on Little Forked Lake. Photo by Nancie Battaglia