Racetrack Threat to the Appalachian Trail Continues

Click here for what you can do

The peace and quiet of the Appalachian Trail is under attack. A developer operating as Alpine Rose Resorts won approval on November 6, 2002 from Eldred Township supervisors to build a 360+ acre high-end sports car driving track along the north side of the Blue Mountain in Monroe County along the Northampton County border.

A developer, Alpine Rose Resorts, has proposed a 360+ acre resort for motor sport enthisiasts along the north face of the Blue Mountain in Eldred Township. Eldred Township is located in Monroe County along the Northampton County border, and this is one of the most detrimental proposals the Township and County has encountered. Ms. Judy Rush, of BMPA, indicated, “this project borders the Appalachian Trail and State Games lands on its southern border and the Aquasicola Creek, a high quality cold water fishery and therefore is totally out of sync with the character of the surroundings”.

This resort would include a 3.2 mile race track, time share villas, restaurants, go-cart tracks, an area for commercial hotels, auto specialty shops, and a 4 acre concourse for outdoor events. Alpine Rose Resorts intends to bring 150,000 - 200,000 people a year to an area that was recently named one of Pennsylvania's "Important Bird Areas." This developer has had this proposal turned down in three other areas of Pennsylvania.

The problem is that Eldred Township has no zoning. As Judy Rush stated, “without local zoning we have zero protection from inappropriate use related issues”. Essentially, anything can be built there. According to Ms. Ilene Eckhart of Blue Mountain Preservation Association, “Although Eldred Township contains one of the most environmentally-diverse areas within Monroe County, that being the Blue Mountain Corridor, the non-existence of local planning measures has left natural resource virtually defenseless against the pressures of development”. The Sierra Club is working with other environmental groups in an attempt to stop this threat. Monroe County and Eldred Township must have appropriate zoning in environmentally sensitive areas to prevent this type of development.

The Blue Mountain Preservation Association and the Appalachian Trail Conference have teamed up to file a Monroe County Court challenge to Eldred Township supervisors' conditional approval of the Resort. The appeals argue that the township's land use ordinances violate the 1978 Pennsylvania Appalachian Trail Act. The legislation empowers municipalities through which the trail passes to ''preserve the natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic value of the trail and to conserve and maintain it as a public natural resource." The groups want the court to invalidate the land use rules they say fail to protect the trail as defined in the Pennsylvania Appalachian Trail Act. They also ask the court to nullify ''any action by Eldred Township to approve the land development proposed by Alpine Rose Resorts Inc.''

What You Can Do

1. Attend the Eldred Township Planning Commission meeting Jan. 16, 7:30 p.m. at the Eldred Township municipal building. This is on Kunkletown Road in Kunkletown on the west side of the elementary school. The planning commission will be voting on the final plan for this project. A LARGE TURN-OUT IS IMPORTANT! Township building phone: 610-381-4252

2. Attend the DEP hearing on the stormwater discharge permit Jan. 23, 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Pleasant Valley Elementary School in Kresgeville. The school is on Polk Township Road, 1 ½ mile of U.S. 209. Kresgeville is on 209, halfway between Routes 476 and 33. The permit is to discharge stormwater from construction activities to Aquashicola Creek. A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE NEEDED AT THIS HEARING! The conservation organizations will provide experts. If you want to testify, you are requested by DEP to submit written notice of your intent to: Alpine Rose Resorts Hearing, DEP, Water Management Program, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711. DEP requests that people speak for no more than 10 minutes and also provide written copies of their comments. If time allows, people who have not preregistered may speak and written copies of comments are not required. The announcement of the hearing is at www.bluemtpreservation.org and the permit application is available for review at the Monroe County Conservation District Office, Stroudsburg, 570-629-3600. The DEP contact person for this permit is Mark Carmon, 570-826-2511.

3. Urge your state legislators to oppose corporate welfare for this project. In order to go forward, this project must receive millions of dollars in state tax abatements, grants and loans. Pennsylvania currently has a $2 billion deficit which is prompting reductions in vital services. It would be a sin for the state to provide taxpayer money for a rich members-only playground which would spoil free public recreation sites. Please write or call your state senator and representative and urge them to oppose any state grants, loans, or tax abatements for the Alpine Rose racetrack. An easy way to contact House members is through the website of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future at http://www.pennfuture.org.

Please ask your family and friends to also help stop the racetrack. For more information, click here to email Barbara Benson of the Lehigh Group of the Sierra Club or call her at 610-282-3611 .

To get more information about this, visit http://www.bluemtpreservation.org.
Click here to read about the appeal.
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