The developer of the 131 acre Dinosaur theme park project, Neil Gold, wants to create all kinds of circuses in our backyard.  According to his presentation in front of the Town Board on March 7th, he plans to deliver his 60 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs by helicopter. Yes, you read that right. Neil Gold plans to helicopter 60 giant dinosaurs through Monroe air space to generate a media frenzy for his park's opening (0:43:19). After a fellow concerned citizen shared the YouTube video of the Town Board approval for the lease of the land across from Mansion Ridge Golf Course (cited throughout this update and linked below) residents have grown even more weary with Gold's lack of business plan and the entire plan's lack of sense. 

In the two hour long advertisement for his park, Gold's sales pitch may convince an eight year old to buy a ticket, but failed to make any convincing argument that the proper precautions would be taken to preserve our right to quiet enjoyment as residents. In fact, after hearing the long list of disturbances and noise pollution he plans to usher into our area, I don't believe Gold has ever met a homeowner. Despite his claims to keep disturbances to a minimum because his park will border residential areas on 3 sides, Gold states there will be an adult-sized dinosaur train that runs around the entire perimeter of the 131 acre project --with a whistle-- that will require a 1,240 ft x 50 ft easement from Mansion Ridge (0:40:53). There will be laser light and sound shows, and hefty "fourth of July type fireworks displays,"(0:33:34) and all the rides will be accompanied by carousel themed music (0:44:44). This seems like a typical day at the park for Gold. When asked what his peak hours of operation would be, he informed the Board that in the summer the park would be open from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm. And referred to something another park was doing called, "Dinosaurs after Dark" that would continue through the Fall and Spring (1:03). 

For any residents who were thinking this was a simple Route 66 type attraction, that their saving grace was that these types of parks typically close at sundown, or that they are usually seasonal... Neil Gold has insisted that the park will be open 12 months a year, 7 days a week with all types of garish disturbances that don't belong in our residential areas. Instead of closing the park from October onward, Gold plans on lighting all 60 life-sized dinosaurs with holiday lights for both Halloween and Christmas (0:34:30). He specifically mentions that he will keep his dinosaurs lit from Thanksgiving to Christmas, appearing to have no reservations about light pollution impacting the residents of Mansion Ridge or Mombasha. He will also convert his parking lot, of an undisclosed size, into a temporary ice rink with a giant Christmas Tree-- aspiring to create a "suburban Rockefeller Center" (0:35:30). A parking lot with the kind of capacity to hold an ice skating rink AND 170 employees (0:53:15) AND tolerate a traffic influx of 180-250 cars per hour (0:48:20) would cause a larger loss of trees than Gold includes in his response to the council when directly asked about deforestation (0:45:04).

Gold plans to construct only two permanent structures that will be taxable all year round. All other structures will be akin to temporary tents and domes. The tents appear to fall into a tax category of musical chairs--which minimizes the amount of tax Gold will actually be paying the town based on the duration the tents remain standing, which Gold reveals he intends to maximize upon (0:57:15). He describes a 35 foot tall Spinosaurus tent, along with 6 large futuristic geodesic domes that will each have a 45 person capacity. Pretty sure those won't blend into the natural landscape, or conform to Mansion Ridge's HOA bylaws. 

All in all, many more updates to come but the summation of today's message is: there isn't a large enough tree screen in the world to comfort any locals today! I am comforted that so many of you have signed the petition so far. We are nearing 150 people in 2 days at the rate we've been going. Please remember to share this petition and any updates with friends and neighbors who may not be aware of the project. It's looking like we may get a say in this after all. 

Signed,
Your Neighbor