CATSKILL — Neighbors are expressing concerns about an outdoor recreational facility proposed for the former Carson City on Route 32.
Carson City was a popular tourist attraction for decades, recreating a town in the Old West town complete with gunslinger “shootouts,” a saloon and a train depot, where mock robberies were staged. The culprits were taken, of course, to an old-time jailhouse.
Carson City also featured a Native American-themed attraction with teepees and Native American dance performances.
The site closed down in 1997 and the property has been vacant since that time.
Today, Apple Realty Holdings, LLC, is looking to redevelop the site at 5389 Route 32 into an outdoor recreational facility dubbed The Ranch.
The Catskill Town Planning Board held a public hearing Tuesday to gauge interest in the proposal.
The site plan was first submitted to the planning board Jan. 15 requesting a special-use permit as an outdoor recreational facility, planning board chairwoman Teresa Golden said. Revised plans were received by the planning board May 14 addressing several issues related to a bat habitat and the septic system.
“The plan is to create a tourist attraction that will have mini-golf, batting cages and a go-kart track about 600 feet long and 22 feet wide,” engineer Scott Ouimet from Kaaterskill Associates told the board. “There will be an outdoor seating area and a concession stand.”
Resident Guy Matteson, who owns four properties in the vicinity of the proposed facility, voiced a number of concerns about the proposal.
“I want to know what kind of impact this will have on traffic, the dust impact from go-karts going around, the noise and the hours of operation and how it will impact my properties,” Matteson said.
Concerns about noise, particularly from the go-karts, were echoed by several nearby homeowners.
“I am really concerned about the noise from vehicles,” one resident said. “We already have a shooting range that we hear from our property, loudly, and we feel our property value has really depreciated because of that.”
Property owner Crystal Dovigh was also concerned about the potential for noise.
“We are concerned about the go-karts and how much noise impact there will be,” Dovigh said. “We obviously live in a rural area for quiet and I wouldn’t want to have to compete with the noise from go-karts if we are trying to enjoy our outdoor space.”
The facility plans to purchase 12 go-karts for the facility, Ouimet said.
“We know the noise is a concern and we have looked into this,” Ouimet said. “One of the things I want to point out is that we are within the hours of operation for the town’s noise ordinance. The go-kart track is over 700 feet from any residential structures.”
Ambient noise — other noises generated in the area — are also considered during noise studies, he said.
“We are on a state highway and typical noises that occur on a state highway — like a car going 55 mph is about 70 decibels and a motorcycle can be up to 90 decibels and we are across the street from a motorcycle shop — so that is part of what one can expect along a state highway,” Ouimet said.
One study indicated that 15 go-karts on a professional track generate about 72 decibels of noise, which is comparable to a car, Ouimet said.
“The challenge is that you are talking about constant noise, as opposed to short and sweet when a truck goes by,” Golden responded.
Planning board member Larry Federman suggested the applicant consider going with electric-powered go-karts instead, which would be more quiet.
“I found that there is a big push nationwide for electric-powered go-karts,” Federman said. “They cite many features that would be attractive to the go-kart experience — speed, torque — so that’s on the plus side. These are also nonpolluting, short of charging the batteries, and the neighbors don’t have to worry about carbon monoxide emissions, oil and gas spills.”
Ouimet said there are pluses and minuses to electric go-karts and the applicant does not want them.
“One of the downsides is the time needed to charge them,” Ouimet said. “On a busy day — obviously on most days you won’t have go-karts running all day — but you can’t run them and then charge them and have your go-karts offline while you recharge them.”
Some go-kart users also don’t feel they are getting an authentic go-kart experience with electric-powered vehicles, Ouimet said.
The Greene County Planning Board made the same recommendation about electric go-karts, Golden said, so she recommended Ouimet go back to the applicant and ask them to reconsider.
Golden asked about community concerns over traffic.
“One of the questions was the impact on traffic,” she said. “How many extra cars are we expecting on the road as a result of this?”
The proposal includes parking spaces for 40 vehicles, Ouimet responded.
“It’s not to the level of what used to be at Carson City,” he said.
The public meeting was closed but the planning board did not complete the required environmental assessment form pending a response from the applicant on the neighbors’ concerns, particularly with regard to noise.
“If there is a way to mitigate the noise, we really should consider it,” Golden said.