Judge: Planning board erred in Round Top resort decision

ROUND TOP―The Town of Cairo Planning Board erred when it determined that a proposed mega resort in Round Top will not have significant environmental impacts, a judge has ruled.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Sharon Graff issued an order this week that nullifies the planning board’s March 2025 issuance of a negative declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

As a result, the planning board’s subsequent actions to grant site plan approval and a special use permit―which first required SEQRA determination―are moot.

The matter was brought to the court by way of an Article 78 lawsuit filed in April of 2025 by Friends of Round Top, Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, and Sierra Club. They argued that the planning board failed to take a “hard look” at how expansion and redevelopment of the former Blackhead Mountain Lodge would affect water quality, water withdrawal, wastewater discharge, views from the Catskill Park and Escarpment Trail, lighting, energy use, and community character.

What challengers of the resort wanted was for the planning board to issue a positive declaration under SEQRA that would require the preparation of a detailed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for further review.

“The Court's role is not to "weigh the desirability of any [SEQRA] action or choose among alternatives, but to assure that the agency itself has satisfied SEQRA, procedurally and substantively,” Graff wrote in her 16-page decision.

“…affording the planning board the deference to which it is due, the court agrees with petitioners that the planning board failed to take the requisite ‘hard look’ and failed to provide a ‘reasoned elaboration’ with respect to three potential environmental impacts,” Graff wrote, exclusively citing water quality, water withdrawal and impacts on energy.

Rather than taking that “hard look” at the project’s impact on water quality, Graff stated that the planning board deferred assessment of a new wastewater treatment facility and the discharge of approximately 46,000 gallons of wastewater per day to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

When reviewing an Environmental Assessment Form (EAF), which was required in making the SEQRA determination, Graff noted that the planning board left multiple sub-part questions unanswered, including three that “require a determination as to the project's impacts upon waterbodies including, as relevant here, downstream waterbodies such as the Shingle Kill.”

Another EAF question asked whether "water supply demand from the proposed action may exceed safe and sustainable withdrawal capacity rate of the local supply or aquifer." The answer to that question was required but was left blank, Graff noted.

Incorporated into the negative declaration was a condition by the planning board that developers “provide a method for nearby property owners to remediate potential impacts upon their wells should they occur once the project goes forward,” Graff stated, adding that the planning board's “reliance upon mitigation measures is, at minimum, a tacit acknowledgement of the project's potential impact upon the water supply.”

Graff further stated that “the project will result in an increase in energy, namely, electricity.”

“…the applicant was advised by Central Hudson that the project's energy demands may require expansion of infrastructure from more than one mile away,” Graff wrote. “The record shows that the project will have 275,593 square feet of buildings to be heated and cooled and will have an annual energy demand of 1.51 MW.”

However, she pointed out, in response to a question on the EAF about whether the "proposed action may cause an increase in the use of any form of energy", the response given was, "No.”

In addition to the Town of Cairo Planning Board, respondents named in the lawsuit include RCBG Blackhead Owner LLC, R. House Catskills LLC and RCBG JV Manager LLC. RCBG Blackhead Owner LLC purchased Blackhead Mountain Lodge in 2023.

Attorneys for the respondents could not immediately be reached for comment.

The proposed resort, which would disturb approximately 73 acres, encompasses three parcels on Bald Hills Road N. and Crows Nest Road. Plans include removal of the existing 18-hole golf course for construction of 87 new buildings to accommodate 127 keyed units, along with a 66,270 square foot main lodge with a spa, restaurant, and bar, as well as a second restaurant, multi-use barn, tennis courts, pool, and 288 parking spaces.

The project, which was in front of the planning board for more than a year, garnered an abundance of both positive and critical public comments. Supporters argued that Round Top was long known for its tourism and the resort would spur new economic development.

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