By Nathan Mayberg
MONTICELLO — October 26, 2004 – A Monticello water park?
RSN Developers, LLC, based in Long Island, recently made that proposal to the Village of Monticello Planning Board.
The developers are proposing the park inside a hotel, along with 400 homes, possible retail outlets similar to Lowe’s and restaurants like Applebees on an 84.5-acre property on Hamilton Road, near the Monticello Raceway. Specifically, the development would be located off Route 17B, east of Hamilton Road.
The proposal is part of the draft scoping document submitted to the planning board, which has declared itself the lead agency for the project.
The board recently closed its scoping session. RSN, represented by local attorney Jacob Billig, is currently preparing its scoping documents, the preliminary phase of its draft environmental impact statement. Billig said it will be several months before that statement is completed.
According to Billig, housing would include homes for seniors and first-time buyers. Since the project is still conceptual, other ideas include a hotel, movie theatre and other recreational activities and entertainment.
The property would be split into a commercial and residential zone. The half of the property closest to Route 17B would be for residential use
Exactly 62.1 acres of the property are currently listed as forested, while 17.7 acres would remain forested under the initial proposal. That same proposal suggested 1.2 million square feet in retail buildings, 200,000 square feet for a theme park, a 300,000-square-foot hotel with 176 rooms and a conference center, and 360 units of multi-family residences including 84 seniors, 174 condominiums and 102 apartments.
A second proposal states that the project would consume over three million square feet of commercial development.
About 15 acres of the land are documented as wetlands by the developers, and another 7.2 acres are considered meadows or bushland. A stream runs through part of the property.
Exactly 48.6 acres in total are to be developed, and 7,000 parking spaces have been proposed. According to the first proposal, the developers claim that 791 construction jobs could be generated – and up to 4,250 after the project is completed.