Don’t let a massive resort turn Round Top into a resource-draining enclave for the super rich
**The next Public Hearing is Thursday, December 5th at 7 p.m. at the Cairo-Durham Elementary School cafeteria, 424 Main St.**
The proposed project is a massive, ultra-luxury resort and high-density “residences” on the former Blackhead Mountain Lodge property in Round Top, NY, a hamlet abutting Catskill State Park. It involves constructing at least 87 new buildings—including a 91,000-square-foot lodge and a wastewater treatment plant—and reengineering the mountainside, rerouting ponds and streams into a giant water basin. There will be 264 guest bedrooms—the former resort had only 22. In peak season, 700-800 people will be on site, including staff. (The population of Round Top is only 663 people.) At least 73.2 acres of land will be “physically disturbed” and more than 11 acres of forest will be cut down. The chairman of the Cairo Planning Board has informally shared with us that it will likely be operated as a Six Senses hotel and residencies, or similar ultra high-end brand. Think of it as an exclusive subdivision for the world’s wealthiest people. Guests will have everything they need on site—they won’t visit Main Street, Cairo. These developers promote their projects as sustainable and in touch with nature and the “local community.” But don’t be fooled: This plan will extract Round Top’s most precious resources—water, nature, views, ancient mountains, peace and quiet—for maximum profit, while leaving the people who actually live here worse off.
The Proposed Project
The existing property survey:
The proposed site plan:
What’s at Stake?
If approved as proposed, this project will:
Make Cairo’s only source of drinking water vulnerable to contamination
Create potential water shortages and the risk of dry wells
Deteriorate our roads due to increased traffic, construction vehicles, and delivery trucks
Increase flooding and erosion
Bring an estimated 900 construction workers from private, out-of-town contractors
Cause severe and permanent noise pollution and light pollution
Deforest more than 17 acres of trees on land abutting Catskill State Park
Forever ruin the peaceful character and residential appeal of our rural hamlet
Potentially raise property taxes
And more…
Who We Are
Friends of Round Top is a grassroots group of residents in Round Top, Cairo, and beyond who care about our community and are deeply concerned about the biggest and riskiest real-estate development project that has ever been proposed for our town. We made this website to share clear, evidence-based information and encourage public engagement. We strongly believe in the public’s right to be informed.
We are not against progress. We are against an environmentally destructive, inappropriately scaled overdevelopment that will radically transform the rural character and peaceful lifestyle of our community. We are against a project that will exploit our natural resources, threaten our health and safety, and harm quality of life and economic stability for people who actually live and work here.
In January 2024, the Cairo Planning Board declared itself Lead Agency, which means they have given themselves tremendous power—and responsibility—to determine the fate of our town and our lives. We believe the Planning Board has been negligent in several areas, including: Not following legal protocol for reviewing the application; failing to protect residents from negative consequences of exploratory drilling, and insufficient communication and transparency, among other issues.
We demand the Cairo Planning Board issues a positive State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) declaration to trigger an Environmental Impact Statement and send the applicant through scoping. We demand immediate protections from the risky “exploratory” drilling and excavation the applicant is already doing without oversight.
Local environmental organizations have issued letters urging the Cairo Planning Board to issue a positive SEQRA declaration and issue an Environmental Impact Statement to protect residents.
Click on the links below to review the letters from the following organizations:
