Fish Creek Ponds marina project gets green light

Project opponents remain concerned about impacts to Upper Saranac Lake and surrounding waterbodies 

By Zachary Matson

A controversial northern Adirondack marina project is closer to construction.

The owners of the former Hickok’s Boat Livery on Fish Creek Ponds in the town of Santa Clara can upgrade and expand to a 92-slip marina, the Adirondack Park Agency board unanimously voted Thursday. 

The Upper Saranac Marina’s APA permit approval came over the objections of advocacy groups, nearby property owners and longtime visitors to the state-owned Fish Creek Campground, which is located near the marina on a grouping of ponds connected to Upper Saranac Lake by a 50-foot-wide channel.

The marina developer also got APA approval to upgrade its marina on Lower Saranac Lake in 2023, a project that spurred litigation against the APA from an opponent of the development.

“It’s a couple of rundown marinas we are trying to improve and give people access to the lake. I don’t know why it’s become a lighting rod.” 

Mike Damp, owner of Upper Saranac Marina

Plans for marina project; and opposition around the details

On his Fish Creek project, operator Mike Damp plans to replace about a dozen existing docks with five longer floating docks, ranging in length from 40 feet to 196 feet. Slips would be concentrated along four of the docks, each housing 20 to 26 boats. Most slips would fit 22-foot boats. 

An old covered dock section will be replaced by a somewhat smaller covered dock that would include space for two 36-foot boat slips, according to plans.

The permit was required to expand by more than 25% a marina in land classified as moderate intensity, based on the number of slips available for rent. 

APA staff determined the existing marina site contained 71 rental slips. But project opponents have argued that tally overstated historic use at the former marina. They have also complained that the 29% increase calculated by APA staff doesn’t account for the impacts of the types of boats that will be docked and launched from the marina.

“It never was a 71-slip marina for motorized, commercial boats,” said Claudia Braymer, deputy director of Protect the Adirondacks, which opposes the project.

During the staff presentation, board members pressed for more details about the historic usage, asking what documentation existed to demonstrate how many power boats used the marina in the past. 

“How many slips were there roughly for big power boats in the pre-existing operation?” APA board Chairman John Ernst said. “What I’m looking for is apples to apples for the kinds of boats currently proposed.”

John Burth, an APA analyst, responded that the number of existing boat slips was determined based on the number of 22-foot boats that could fit.  

“What we have are the existing docks,” Burth said.

The map shows the location of the approved Upper Saranac Marina (red pin) and the Saranac Lake Marina (black pins) by the same development team. Data Source: Adirondack Park Agency. Map by Zachary Matson

APA received 112 public comments on the project, 78 against and 34 in favor. Many commenters who said they have visited Fish Creek Campground for decades or own property on the ponds raised concerns that the marina would increase boat traffic, create safety risks, harm wildlife and detract from their enjoyment of the connected ponds that lead to Upper Saranac. 

A handful of commenters said they supported the project and the economic activity it represents.

Some others said they saw the benefit of upgrading the docks and offering maintenance and gas service but that they think a smaller expansion is enough. 

Damp said modern marina design is safer and more friendly to the environment and that he didn’t understand the persistent opposition to the marina upgrades.

“It’s better for the environment without a question,” Damp said. The project still needs a permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which says it lacks a complete application .

Damp said once he gains approvals, dock construction will take six months. He hopes to offer slip rentals next spring and summer.

A fight for hearings on controversial projects

In responding to public comments, Burth dismissed calls from five advocacy groups for the board to conduct a special evidentiary hearing on the marina project. The groups argued that the project’s size and complexity, the level of public interest and issues over safety and environmental impacts necessitated the hearing. Those groups have also pressed for similar hearings on other controversial projects in recent years without success. 

The agency recently won in the Supreme Court Appellate Division a case centering on its decision to not conduct a hearing over its approval for the Lake George Park Commission to use the herbicide ProcellaCOR to treat invasive milfoil. 

Burth also said a study of “carrying capacity” — what level of use the Saranac Lakes Chain can sustain — as outlined in the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan is unnecessary in the context of a private project.

“Carrying capacity is simply not an issue,” Burth said.  

While the project did not include a wetlands permit, Burth  pointed out how the docks were reconfigured to limit impacts to a small section of wetlands between two of the docks. He said the project did not “involve” wetlands as a result, referencing the standard the agency uses to determine if a wetlands permit is needed.

Braymer in comments at the end of the board meeting argued that the discussion of the issue itself showed that the project should require a wetlands permit. 

“Part of that discussion was about the wetlands in between the docks and how the boats are not going to go through wetlands,” Braymer told board members. “In my mind that demonstrates to you this project was involving wetlands.”

Image at top: A screenshot of design plans from the marina application showing structures to be removed (in red), a new covered dock (in blue) and the outline of other new docks.