Letter to the Public From Hurley Twin Lakes Developer - Arizona Investissements LLC,
Arizona Hudson Valley is a passion project for the development firm, Arizona Investissements, that purchased the former Twin Lakes Resort in November 2018. Seeking the perfect flagship location for its hospitality subsidiary, there was no better location than being nestled in the heart of the Hudson Valley. The development firm had started discussions with the town of Hurley’s planning board five months prior to purchasing the property. The planning board, being very receptive and supportive of the redevelopment, has been pivotal in creating the perfect project for the Town of Hurley: the world’s first energy-positive hotel.
The forthcoming project is set to create the new standard for eco-conscious travel by combining design, technological innovation, and the most sustainable materials available, allowing guests to experience the highest level of luxury with minimal impact to the environment. The property will encompass the revolutionary Moliving suites that are truly “green” and are engineered to harvest enough solar energy to be fully independent from the power grid and generate sufficient power to operate all other facilities throughout the site.The suites feature self-leveling systems that protect the land by allowing them to be removed with no impact to the ground below, never leaving a trace behind. The property will be self-sustainable from an energy standpoint with its own water management system and renewable infrastructure. After 18 months of careful collaboration with the Town of Hurley officials, and satisfying all required studies (environmental, traffic, etc.), the special use permit application was unanimously approved in December 2019, just months before the global pandemic. The approved permit was exercised within one year, as required, as Arizona set out to satisfy all conditions set out by the Town, including a few that also required approval by separate bodies such as the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) and Ulster County Department of Health (“DOH”). Despite the global pandemic, Arizona diligently moved forward with the fulfillment of these conditions, which required careful coordination and constant communication between the governmental bodies and the developer. Throughout this time, there was a delay in response from the DOH and DEC, which ultimately halted the process altogether.
Arizona has been in constant communication with the Town of Hurley and the Code Enforcement Officer (“CEO”), who has not issued any violations to the property (another condition to the special use permit). Following an unusual series of events that the town officials will not comment on, the CEO was escorted out of his office by the local state police. When asked about this, the town claims that he is on a “health leave”. Mr. Hoffstater has since been replaced by acting CEO: Dave Allen (CEO of the town of Marbletown, NY) who has been largely unresponsive apart from denying a large majority of permit applications. Mr. Hoffstater has now returned to his duties for all applications except for the “hot topic” developments: Arizona Hudson Valley, Cedar Development, and Dunkin Donuts - a very odd coincidence.
As Arizona continued to move forward on its development, the developer filed for a demolition permit in April 2022 in preparation for the future renovation of the as of right and existing facilities on its site: Twin Lakes. The permit had been accepted after 45 days and multiple calls from the developer, which resulted in the secretary of the Zoning Board / Planning board leaving a voicemail asking the developer to stop calling for updates on the permit status. In June 2022, the developer filed for the renovation of the existing structures and within 24 hours the acting CEO, Dave Allen, refused the permit stating that the SUP had been revoked due to Arizona not exercising the special use permit in the allocated time period.
Arizona immediately filed an appeal on the acting CEO’s decision that remains in the appeals process to this date. This process should typically take no longer than four months, but has taken over six months including extended public hearings that lasted over 45 days versus one day for most applications.
These are just a few of the very odd new events that have occurred to slow down this sustainable hospitality project that would bring considerable social economic development to the Town of Hurley. Hundreds of jobs would be brought to the area through construction and full time positions including specialized training, as well as considerable taxable income through sales tax, hospitality, and transient taxes. Arizona has put in considerable effort,time, capital, and human resources to push this project forward and set Hurley on the international map through a series of media recognition in top publications including Forbes, New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Business Insider, Robb Report, Time Out and many more.
As a response, on November 23, 2022, the Town of Hurley posted on its website a communication that essentially said they would disregard prior approvals, regardless of the legality of doing so, in favor of making them start over, all at great cost, prejudice and delay to the developer. This same communication was then printed in the opinion section of the Daily Freeman on November 24, 2022.
After four years of going back and forth with the town, and more importantly, two years of constant roadblocks since the original SUP was approved in December 2019, it has become obvious that the town officials do not believe the law applies to them. These actions not only increase costs to developers, but also to the people that make up the Town of Hurley. Now is the time for change and time to bring positive development to the town of Hurley.