Courtesy West Mountain (2021)
It’s back to the Queensbury Town Planning Board for the West Mountain Ski Area, but that is good news for the company.
Last night the Queensbury Town Board agreed to the company’s request that two parcels of land be changed from a residential zone to a recreational/commercial zone. The vote was unanimous and covered only the zoning change. The planning board will take up how the property is used now that it is allowed to be used commercially and recreationally.
John Lapper, an attorney who spoke for the ski area’s owner, Spencer Montgomery who was also present via Zoom, said that the parcels will act mainly as employee parking since they are further from the ski lodge than the current parking lot. They will also act as an overflow lot, especially on race days when skiers come from across the region.
Apex Capital, the corporate name of the ski area, owns the two parcels attached to the ski area’s current parking lot. Planning board notes from last year say that Apex began construction of the parking lot on the site and then stopped in order to get the permissions. The plan as noted in December includes a driveway to be used on overflow days.
Tim McNulty, the newest town board member, said he lives near the ski area.
“There’s been race weekends where they’re parked on both sides” of West Mountain Road, he said. He added that the space is already cleared, so there is no issue with disruption of a forest. Buildings already exist on the properties.
Supervisor John Strough reminded board members that they were voting just on the zoning, not on the use of the parcel.
Strough said the ski area has "been there for decades, and they are expanding, which is good." He admitted that municipalities should make zoning changes rarely, if at all, then asked, rhetorically: “What is the highest and best use” for those two parcels that are sandwiched between the parking lot and the neighborhood?
He answered his own question, saying a change in the zoning is best. He added that the planning board should take care of most of the concerns of neighbors. The southernmost parcel has residential properties on both sides.
The ski area will have to go back to the Queensbury Planning Board to finalize their plans. They have been working on this with the planning board for years, members of the Queensbury Town Board said. The parking lot will change from about 558 to about 840 spaces, planning board documents indicate.