Q. – With no clear description of the scale and scope of the proposed expansion at Mount Sunapee, how can taxpayers, towns, and State agencies accurately assess the impact and whether that impact is beneficial?
The current plan is silent about the resort’s intentions for residential and commercial development on the estimated 250 acres the operator now owns and will retain adjacent to the new ski terrain.
Check out the red line on the proposed “West Bowl Expansion” map, prepared by Okemo/Mount Sunapee Resort and released (4/16/2015) by Commissioner Rose (DRED) in the amended plan for Mount Sunapee.
West Bowl Draft#2 2015 line – High Resolution (pdf 1m)
The red line appears to delineate a proposed property line that will encompass the “West Bowl”: trails, base lodge(s), parking lot(s), rental and retail shops, etc. The map omits a defining a building envelope and fails to show essential infrastructure. No comprehensive and complete map of the proposed expansion is yet available.
The lessees of the ski area — CNL Lifestyle Properties (Florida-based real estate investment trust) and Okemo/Mount Sunapee Resort (operator) — want to expand the private resort across the state park boundary onto the operator’s private land in Goshen.
DRED’s draft decision says the operators will turn over 150 acres to expand the state park by 2028. This gives the operator 13 years to develop the “West Bowl ” on its private land and obtain permits, mitigate and meet local density requirements to develop the resort’s adjoining acreage, now estimated at 250 acres — land that will encompass the “West Bowl” on three sides, to the south, west and north.
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