Developer Cancels Dino Park!
WE WON!
Here’s a recap…
Residents turned out in droves for Monday night’s Dinosaur “Informational Session,” filling seats until there were none left and continuing to overflow into the aisles and halls. Approximately 200 people waited to learn more about the looming question mark awaiting these 131 town owned acres before voicing their own concerns and questions. The Town Board claimed they never saw such a turn out, and in a time when our lives have been transitioned to the internet for public health and safety– it made an impression on a room that usually sits empty.
On April 18th, the room was filled with weary eyes that only commuting hours to work and back, to end the day packed like sardines in a municipal building could induce. The Town Board prepared a power point presentation on fact vs. fiction and the importance of internet literacy, which essentially clarified that they provided no public information and that they did not have much. In spite of the fact that they signed a lease to the developer, Neil Gold, on our behalf– they felt it was too early to be expected to answer questions that residents felt was an appropriate scope of knowledge BEFORE accepting a bid for our municipal land. The Town Board’s key concern was that they were being misinterpreted in the Photo News, the Times Herald Record, and on social media. Mr. McGinn suggested to the public that they “catch him” down at the Planet Fitness and ask him personally for clarification on interviews and quotes they had directly given to the press. In response, there was a lot of public pushback on who was really misrepresenting who, here? Especially when residents who had taken the time to formally request documents and other information regarding the park, spoke about being atypically delayed in their FOIL requests. One resident claimed she had been waiting weeks for her FOIL request on the Dino park’s lease, while the board sat silently in response.
With so much value being placed on face to face communication, I was surprised to learn that residents who did inquire about this project to the board were led to believe this would just be “hiking trails in the woods.” While local business owners seemed to be aware and excited for the promise of many new tourism opportunities and the possibility of local business integration with the park. Both ideas were seemingly dispelled when the President and CEO of the Orange County Partnership, Maureen Hallahan, clarified that this attraction is expected to bring 300,000 people a year– attracting mostly school children with bagged lunches on school buses by way of field trips. Additionally, on March 7th, Gold denied our council’s ideas to integrate local food trucks into his Dino park. One resident later spoke out as a local business owner, when he realized the discrepancies: “How will a bunch of kids on buses with bagged lunches feed our town’s local businesses?”
Hallahan’s pro-tourism speech was in such stark contrast to the tone of the outraged residents that it is easy to identify her as one of the speakers who presented on behalf of their business interests with the “not theme park,” specifically on behalf of the County, who is projecting $3 million dollars in expected County Sales Tax from OC Dino LLC. Notably, those speakers do not reside in Monroe. Meaning, they do not experience the consequences of Woodbury Common traffic that has led to local citizen intolerance for the over-saturation of commercial tourism here. As subsequent speakers pointed out, this sales tax would benefit Monroe no matter where the park is located in Orange County. So, it did not convince anyone of why we should sacrifice our residential peace for this type of venture, in this location– especially when considering there are swaths of commercial land available. Given the County’s expected gain and projected profit, it seems easy enough for them to garner more investors for the project to be able to purchase a commercial plot for both the project and Monroe residents to live in peace. In the end, Gold was attempting to redefine the optics of OC Dinosaur Park to be an educational, recreational park and “not a theme park” or commercial attraction in order to fit into a location it did not belong. Monroe residents knew enough Shakespeare to know that ‘a theme park by any other name still smells as sour.’ In other words, it was just another day in Monroe politics.
What was remarkable, was the show of community support in a town where many of us have given up hope in our local government allowing us a chance to speak on the way our town is developed. I would like to personally thank each of you who showed up to the meeting, who spoke and applauded to protect our Monroe, and those of you who have been following along eagerly at home. It is not lost on me how large a turn-out of two hundred citizens is in a time when we are risking our health to gather. In notable attendance at the meeting and in strong opposition to the “not theme park” was the Mayor of Harriman, Friends of Sterling Forest, an environmental representative from Warwick, and several long term Monroe residents who were vital in pointing out what little information we did know in the early stages: This project was environmentally inappropriate. A large NYS Freshwater Wetland spans the property in a shape that makes much of the buildable area off-limits to humans, but a great home for wildlife. The 131 acres was donated in 1990 by the developer of Mansion Ridge as a trade off for its environmental impact, and was deeded as park land with the intention of it never being sold--hence the lease to OC Dino. Previous wells installed on the same land, that currently supply Mansion Ridge, were linked to water supply disruptions for residents of Shadowmere Lake– since so many residents share the same story when it comes to development in Monroe it is never a question of if the supply will be disrupted, but more a question of whose supply and when? Finally, the 300,000 visitors expected in the first year alone, with intentions by Neil Gold to increase numbers in following years, would mostly be coming from RT 17 and routed through the Village of Harriman. Tourists would have been directed by GPS through 20 mph roads like Grove Street and Church Street, straight up Harriman Heights Rd, and right on through to the park’s entrance on Orange Turnpike. The increase in traffic would likely have caused safety issues for commuters and school bus stops, and would certainly have increased noise pollution on deeply residential areas on and around Orange Turnpike as well.
In the end, Neil Gold came to his senses after having a survey done on the property where he realized the location was in fact, not feasible for his expansive vision. The 730 of us who have signed against this attraction’s location all believe we had something to do with it too. While the Town Board remains steadfast in their decision and procedure, I would like to remind everyone that they are our elected officials and they deserve our respect. They too have been humbled by the reminder that we are their constituents. There are many lessons to learn here about the power of community and technology’s ability to unite. Monroe is home to all of us and there will be many more opportunities to get involved and shape the identity of our town, which is bound to lead to more discourse. If you have a voice, please use it, and use it responsibly.
For now, I’m going to leave this petition open since so many of us would like to see this lot become a park or nature preserve. Thank you again for your support.