Fjord Trail changes fail to satisfy foes
COLD SPRING — The first phase of the Fjord Trail is underway, but opponents of the linear park to connect Cold Spring and Beacon through the Hudson Highlands are still concerned about its impacts on the environment and tourism.
Last month, work crews ripped out 179 trees along Route 9D for the Breakneck Connector and Bridge project, which is expected to cost $86 million, including $34 million in public funds.
On March 11, the nonprofit in charge, Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, a subsidiary of Scenic Hudson, showcased renderings of its most recent plans for the proposed next phase at a public event with security guards. One slide, which depicted a fence running along the railroad tracks in Cold Spring, elicited gasps.
Unlike the High Line in Manhattan and the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, which the Fjord Trail has been compared to, this project does not adapt preexisting railroad infrastructure. By contrast, the Fjord Trail, projected to stretch 71⁄2 miles from Cold Spring to Beacon, would largely be constructed from scratch.
The most contentious part, the Shoreline Trail, would sit atop pilings driven into the riverbed next to the railroad tracks between popular hiking spot Breakneck Ridge and Cold Spring. That’s because it needs to be at least 25 feet from the tracks, but there isn’t currently space on land through the stretch. To build the pilings, construction workers will need to clear existing trees and other vegetation.
Rather than allaying opponents’ fears, every zig and zag in the project’s design has raised more questions.
State-owned Dockside Park in Cold Spring is HHFT’S preferred southern entry point. At a March 16 meeting for neighboring residents hosted by trail officials, one attendee “cried describing what she fears (they) are going to do to
the lower village” adjacent to the park, according to an eyewitness.
Protect the Highlands, a nonprofit formed last year to thwart the trail, has hired legal counsel in Albany-based Whiteman Osterman & Hanna. Partisans on both sides claim they’re afraid of speaking out due to potential reprisals.
With emotions running high, trail officials contend that the opposition is loud but limited. “Over the last year, a lot of support has grown for this project,” HHFT Communications Manager Lori Moss said.
But not everyone opposes the trail. Last May, three Cold Spring residents formed Philipstown Advocates for Trails, which developed a mailing list of 140, sponsors social gatherings and holds informational meetings with local officials.
“Many people who are strongly against the trail, some of them friends of mine, claimed to speak for the whole village. I thought, ‘Hold on a minute,’” said one founder, Paul Thompson, a long-distance runner. “We are broadly supportive of the concept of the trail.”
In February, Cold Spring resident Walter Ulmer devised and distributed an independent survey and held low-key meetings at the firehouse on Main Street to discuss its findings. At one event, participants said other ad hoc gatherings outside of official channels are also trying to stimulate dialogue instead of debate.
New to the mix is information about the financing provided by Christopher C. Davis, a mutual fund manager and philanthropist who has a home in Garrison. Davis chairs HHFT’S Board of Directors and is involved with many local environmental and cultural causes. Protect the Highlands singles him out as exerting undue influence on the project through his donations.
Just how much Davis has donated remains a mystery. Protect the Highlands says he and his family’s charitable trust have given more than $59 million to the project. HHFT has not answered questions about the project’s financing and Davis’ donations are not included in the nonprofit’s latest filings.
The Breakneck Connector is paid for, but “funding for the (rest of the) Fjord Trail is not determined or fully available at this time,” wrote the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in the Breakneck Connector and Bridge Project Full Environmental Assessment Form, revised in December 2022.
“Why would you build phase one without knowing how phase two and three are going to be supported?” said Gretchen Dykstra, a member of Protect the Highlands. “This is a private park inside a public park with no clear lines between who pays for what, who manages what and who is going to keep people safe. The fear is that over the long-term, taxpayers will have been blindsided.”
For years, many Cold Spring residents have worried about over-tourism. On April 1, the village instituted parking restrictions along with metered parking on Main Street and other tributaries. There are just 30 hotel rooms in town.
“We have a problem with visitors now, so why would you bring in even more people and then try to manage them?” said Michael Bowman, a former Cold Spring trustee. “The trail solves none of the issues we currently have.”
HHFT has brought in ORCA Consulting, whose website cites expertise in visitor planning, services and management, to help revise the project. Its founding principal, Al Shacklett, was previously “integrally involved with the development of many of the major Disney projects that were planned around the world, such as Euro Disneyland and the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim,” according to his Linkedin profile. He founded ORCA to “offer the unique services he helped pioneer at Disney to the leisure industry.” Company principal John Moss worked at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., for more than 37 years.
At a public meeting April 3 at HHFT headquarters, representatives of ORCA Consulting laid out their plan. Shuttle buses are part of the solution.
Chris Winward, mayor of the village of Nelsonville, which borders Cold Spring, serves on the HHFT’S Visitation Data Committee. She had low expectations heading into the meeting because many committee members distrust the data.
“A lot of folks concerned about increased visitation with the trail would support a start at Little Stony Point (less than a mile north of Main Street) or Breakneck Ridge with the train station there,” she said. “That is a really simple compromise that should be embraced.”
“A lot of folks concerned about increased visitation with the trail would support a start at Little Stony Point (less than a mile north of Main Street) or Breakneck Ridge with the train station there. That is a really simple compromise that should be embraced.”
Chris Winward, mayor of the village of Nelsonville