For Immediate Release: April 22, 2021
Contact:
Keith P. McKeever | Public Information Officer | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 891-4050
RAY BROOK, NY - The Adirondack Park Agency staff and Board transitioned proficiently to a telework environment during 2020 to overcome the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Staff increased opportunities to accept digital submissions and used innovative technologies to conduct Agency business. These dedicated efforts minimized the impacts the pandemic had on overall productivity while maintaining rigorous review standards.
Executive Director Terry Martino said, "I am pleased to commemorate Earth Day by sharing with you the 2020 accomplishments of the Adirondack Park Agency which documents resiliency, adaptability and achievement. We will always remember 2020 as a year of crisis when individuals, communities, organizations and businesses faced relentless change due to a global pandemic. Despite this unprecedented event, the Agency continued to approve critical telecommunication projects, ensure private land use and development projects were conditioned with adequate safeguards to protect the unique natural resources of the Park, addressed complex State Land policy issues and assisted local government. I express my appreciation to the staff and Board for their unwavering commitment to the high standards expected of the Agency by all who love the Adirondack Park."
In 2020, the Agency issued over 300 permits for private land projects, processed 1,088 jurisdictional inquires, reviewed 69 local government local land use variances, responded to 152 inquiries from local government officials related to local planning and zoning issues, fulfilled 331 Freedom of Information Requests, evaluated 372 on-site wastewater treatment systems, 352 stormwater management proposals, 225 deep-hole soil test pits, conducted 180 wetland site visits, 251 wetland air photo interpretations, opened 200 enforcement cases, and conducted 69 enforcement site visits.
Highlights of approved projects included approval for modernizations to the Olympic Regional Development Authority Olympic Center which is home to the famed 1980 Miracle on Ice Rink; issued 39 telecommunication permits including a permit for the installation of a 150-foot-tall telecommunication tower in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County; approval for the rebuild of two major segments of an existing 115kV transmission line which runs from the Town of Moriah, Essex County to the Town of Whitehall in Washington County; authorized the application of an aquatic herbicide in Minerva Lake for management of Eurasian Watermilfoil, and approved a 5 MW solar generating energy system in the Town of Ticonderoga, Essex County.
Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan conformance decisions were issued for the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor Unit Management Plan and amendments to the Essex Chain Lakes Management Complex. In addition, the Agency approved an amendment to the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan to reclassify 32 acres of Moderate Intensity Use to Hamlet in the Town of North Elba, Essex County.
To review the 2020 Annual Report please go to www.apa.ny.gov.
The mission of the Adirondack Park Agency is to protect the public and private resources of the Adirondack Park through the exercise of the powers and duties of the Agency as provided by law.