Resistance persists over Windham Mountain Club hotel plan

WINDHAM―The word symbiosis has entered the conversation in the controversy over a 26-room hotel maybe being built at the Windham Mountain Club and the resistance from many local hoteliers.

The project has been before the town planning board for the past three months as part of the ski slope’s long-term development master plan that began generating economic unease as soon as it was introduced.

Windham Mountain Club offered its master plan in 2023, after a switch in majority ownership and a shift toward deeper privatization involving limits on skiers and more exclusive memberships.

That original plan called for as many as 60 townhouses which would now be modified, cutting back on private residences, in favor of the hotel.

An amendment to the original site plan approval has been submitted to the planning board, resulting in business owner backlash.

Windham Mountain Club leaders have stated the reason behind the hotel is based on a shortage of rooms in Windham, also stating their “boutique hotel… offers a stay unlike any other in the mountains.” They say it will not compete with existing hotels due to upscale amenities that place it in a loftier level of luxury―and price range―than is currently available to overnighters, thus attracting more and different visitors.

Windham Mountain Club, prior to planning board approval, is already advertising the opening of the hotel in 2028, raising hackles within the local hospitality industry.

Several hoteliers, in multiple letters to the planning board, say the claim by Windham Mountain Club that there are not enough places to stay in Windham, purportedly prompting their new hotel, is totally and curiously inaccurate.

Four hoteliers have signed onto, or in support of, a July 28 letter written to the planning board stating, “collectively, the undersigned businesses represent approximately 217 lodging rooms within the Town of Windham.”

“These accommodations serve everyone from couples to large families and represent a significant portion of the Town's hospitality industry,” the letter states. “Based on our experience operating lodging businesses in Windham, we respectfully request that the Planning Board deny this amendment for three primary reasons:

“The proposal is inconsistent with preserving the character of the Town of Windham;

“The proposal to add an ultra-luxury boutique hotel on the mountain negatively impacts Windham, New York downtown vitality;

“The proposal is inconsistent with the integrity of the originally approved master plan and the planning process,” the July 28 letter states.

One local public hearing was held earlier this summer, and Greene County Department of Economic Development, Tourism & Planning, in late May, filed a required project overview.

Referring to the Windham Mountain Club requested amendment, the county stated that the town “should confirm that the current proposal remains consistent with the scope, scale and impacts analyzed” as part of the town’s original SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) scrutiny.

Town planners, following continued discussions on the matter last week, are expected to begin moving forward with that confirmation later this month or in early September, followed by a second public hearing.

County planners, on the question of “Community Character” in their review, further stated that “the proposed amendment replaces previously approved residential development with lodging and rental units that are consistent with the character of a resort-based community.”

“The introduction of a hotel and associated rental units supports the area's identity as a recreational and tourism destination,” the county further stated. “Although the density and intensity of use may differ from the originally approved residential lots, the overall character remains aligned with the existing resort setting and is not expected to adversely affect the surrounding area.”

John Flannigan is the owner of Wylder Windham and one of the four hoteliers aligned with the July 28 letter to town planners.

In a letter to the planning board’s special counsel assisting on the complex project, Flannigan wrote, “I can assure you that developing a new ultra luxury hotel from ground up is not a small impact to an overall master plan.”

‘It is not simply converting some townhomes into a boutique hotel, it impacts everything: noise, traffic, construction, environment, and marketing of what Windham actually is,” Flannigan stated.  

Planning boards aren’t in the business of basing decisions upon whether one hotel impacts the financial success or failure of another. On the other hand, zoning regulations were recently enacted that many officials and residents agreed would have been wise to write 20 years earlier, given the landscape metamorphosis unfolding in Windham.

There’s no going back now, and in a cracker barrel chat with a community member about the issue, it was opined that “there used to be a symbiosis between the mountain and businesses.”

“It’s just not there anymore” they said. “Nobody can predict what will happen, but if this many businesses are saying what they’re saying, what would be wrong with sitting down together before this is a done deal?”