New York’s conservation easement on hold over title issues that date back more than 120 years
By Gwendolyn Craig
The discovery of long ago land title issues is complicating the state’s plan for the Frontier Town Campground, Equestrian and Day Use Area in the town of North Hudson, billed as “the gateway to the Adirondacks.”
The problems are interfering with the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s plans for a conservation easement on 300 acres, including the 90-acre campground, which the state has been pursuing since at least 2017. A sticking point is that the state Attorney General’s Office requires perfect title and will not purchase title insurance, said North Hudson Town Attorney John Silvestri.
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The DEC dug up records entailing 25 acres, and a 1901 foreclosure case entailing 204 acres. The foreclosure involved Abel Skiff, who purchased land in actual frontier times. In it, Skiff’s heirs retained 3/8ths interest and the mortgage holder foreclosed on 5/8ths.
The risk of a relative appearing to contest the ownership, Silvestri said, was “almost nonexistent.” He asked state officials if they really wanted him to contact all of Skiff’s ancestors because it would “open a Pandora’s box that can’t be shut.”
They did.
The town hired a private investigator to research the family tree. Silvestri contacted 19 heirs, including a couple of Michigan lawyers, a Florida rabbi, a Las Vegas Spanish teacher and a retired school principal from Washington state, via a legal action known as a quiet title lawsuit. The town wishes the Essex County Supreme Court to rule that it owns the property given that it has possessed it more than “10 years without interruption.”
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It’s unclear how much money could be at stake if any of the heirs choose to contest. The state had planned to spend $32 million. The campground, a trail network and other amenities have already been built, but additional development there has since slowed.
“How would you like to get a letter that said, ‘by the way, you have a relative and you inherited that relative’s interest?’” Silvestri said. “I’d love to get a letter like that.”
Jon Luker, one of the descendants of Skiff, said it seemed “like a Christmas present,” when he got the letter. An attorney from Michigan, Luker and his three brothers are considering how they want to proceed. “We’re not looking to bankrupt anybody,” he said.
The DEC flagged two title objections, and said it cannot go forward with a timely appraisal process until the title issues are resolved.
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The state Attorney General’s Office did not respond to the Explorer’s requests for comment.
Title issue
Land trust organizations say the state’s title process is unnecessarily cumbersome, and they’re pointing to the Frontier Town case as an example.
Kathy Moser, chief conservation and policy officer at the Open Space Institute, told legislators about the issue at the state Legislature’s joint environmental conservation budget hearing on Feb. 7. She said New York is the only state in the country that does not accept title insurance.
And while it is usual for title searches to go back 40 years or so, OSI generally looks back 80 years as part of its due diligence.
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Silvestri said it was “unheard of” to go back more than a century.
The state’s policies are already hampering the approximately 90 land trusts, who are holding 100,000 acres for it with a fair market value of $150 million, Moser said.
In Adirondack Park Forest Preserve counties, OSI is holding seven properties the state plans to purchase valued at $7.8 million. OSI is also holding five conservation easements for the state totaling $2.3 million. Across the state, OSI is holding 21,000 acres, worth $24 million, for the state.
“These delays significantly slow down OSI’s rates of conservation in New York, resulting in lost opportunities to protect at-risk land to fight climate change, and support habitat protection, recreation, and clean water,” said Eileen Larrabee, chief external affairs officer of OSI.
OSI, The Nature Conservancy and others are asking state legislators to pass a law allowing for the state Attorney General’s Office to purchase title insurance. State Sen. Rachel May, D-Syracuse and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (D-Sag Harbor) are sponsoring such a bill introduced in 2023.
The DEC said it “is committed to achieving the conservation objectives defined in the New York State Open Space Plan,” which identifies parcels the state hopes to protect. It is also looking to protect 30% of the state’s lands and waters by 2030. “DEC is also cognizant of the need for a rigorous due diligence process for any conservation acquisition that uses public resources to ensure these critical goals are met,” the department said.
A gateway stalled
Ron Moore, former North Hudson supervisor, said he was both “surprised and disappointed, obviously, that this is still an issue.” Moore left his post in 2018.
In an October 2018 press conference, state and local officials donned cowboy hats and celebrated the groundbreaking of the envisioned $32 million “gateway to the Adirondacks,” off Exit 29 on the Adirondack Northway.
The campground is adjacent to Frontier Town, a 1952-era theme park that once attracted visitors nationwide. It is also about eight miles east of the Boreas Ponds Tract, which boasts spectacular views of some of New York’s highest peaks including Marcy, Haystack, Gothics and Saddleback.
OSI helped area towns develop a master plan, which included the campground and day use area along the Schroon River, equestrian camping and trail riding, a visitor information center, an event center, interactive exhibits on forest products and the history of the park and a commercial business center for food and lodging. The nonprofit organization has since removed itself from the project.
Larrabee said OSI bowed out when the state decided to focus on attracting private businesses, which “as a not-for-profit, that’s not compatible with our mission.” But OSI had still spent a couple of hundred thousand dollars on structural assessments of Frontier Town, flood assessments and other assistance for reimagining the area. OSI’s funding “was supposed to be recouped through the sale of the conservation easement,” Larrabee said.
Stephanie DeZalia, who became supervisor after Moore, and left office last year, said the COVID-19 pandemic also delayed the court process.
“It’s frustrating to say the least, that it has taken so long,” DeZalia said.
Chris Clark, newly elected supervisor, said he was still getting up to speed on the issue.
Silvestri, however, said “it’s business as usual” on the property while the lawsuit is pending. The town has authorized an access agreement with the state.
The heirs
The town’s complaint shows Skiff pledged 5/8ths interest of his property to secure an $800 mortgage loan. In 1901, about 15 years after Skiff’s death, the mortgage holder foreclosed on the 5/8ths that secured the loan. Fast forward to 1992, NL Industries, formerly known as National Lead Company, sold the land to the town of North Hudson. It’s not clear whether town officials knew about the murky title then. Silvestri said if the town had done a 40-year title search in 1992, a 1901 foreclosure would not have shown up.
Silvestri said the town has spent about $8,000 to $10,000 looking for Skiff’s descendants and handling the court proceedings. Following the genealogical investigation, the town served papers to the 19 heirs they could find.
Some, Silvestri found, have passed away. Some asked Silvestri for the family tree. Others thought he was trying to scam them. Silvestri got a call from a sheriff in Wisconsin to investigate if the potential land claim was real.
Some heirs have been unreachable, and Silvestri is seeking court approval to advertise the summons in newspapers where he believes they last lived. It’s unclear when the court will issue a decision on his October 2023 motion.
Calvin Luker, Jon Luker’s brother, is also an attorney in Michigan. He said their mother grew up in Vermont. They have many distant relations in the Northeast. Jon Luker said they know some of the defendants listed on the court summons and are in the process of contacting everyone. Both brothers were not surprised they had upstate ties, but they were surprised to learn they may have property interests.
Jon Luker stayed at the campground in March 2022 and liked it and the equestrian park. Frontier Town, he said, had become dilapidated: “a shame … but it seems like there is promise there.”
If the court rules in their favor, the descendants of Skiff would have a fractional interest in the property’s value. Silvestri said it would be divided by the number of descendants.
The Luker brothers think more complicated math would be involved. The 3/8ths of the property’s value may not be divided equally, but rather be divided based on relation to Skiff.
“It can be cleared up, and it will,” Silvestri said. “It’s just a matter of time and money.”
Top photo: Frontier Town campground gate. Photo by Melissa Hart
Editor’s note: This story was updated March 14, 2024 after the state Department of Environmental Conservation clarified that it could not confirm an 1858 bankruptcy case involving the property in the Frontier Town project.
Wouldn’t they be liable for the 100 years of back taxes?
Apparently there was a tax foreclosure. But tax authority must not have found the 3/8 interest either, and so made no attempt to notify them or cancel their interest. For that or another reason, must be tax sale not valid against the 3/8.
I been wondering what the holdup was. The old buildings are getting worse by the year. Mother Nature will reclaim them unless NYS stops dragging it out. It is utterly ridicules, and sad at the same time. Then they put those unsightly looking car chargers right out in front of the place and put them right in the flood plain! I have seen them in the water, and they are not even open yet! I guess putting them on higher ground on the other side of the lot would have been to far of a visual from the Northway. At night ,I am pretty sure you can see them from space.
Gwen. Thanks for your thorough analysis. Always enjoy the depth of your journalistic explorations. Keep up the great reporting.
Unbelievable, the State spends our taxpayer dollars before doing their due diligence, and builds this?
I agree with Alfonce, let the heirs pay their 100+ years of back taxes before another dollar is spent!
Something that far back most likely to turn up in a land survey. Maybe OSI didn’t get one because only purchasing to hold for sale to the State.
Interesting that the State will not purchase title insurance. I think one State still doesn’t allow title insurance at all (Iowa if I recall). But once the problem is identified no title insurance would cover it anyway, at least not at a fee the taxpayers would want to pay.
The 3/8 still have their interest unless the parcel was properly taken for non-payment of taxes and re-sold. Government doesn’t care if the 5/8 pay them or the 3/8 pay them.
Most states have a statute that cures all (or maybe almost all) defects in a title after, say, 40 years if no claim has been asserted. I am too lazy to look it up, but does NY really not?
I’m reading this in amazement as I see all the time taxpayer money and effort that’s been put into this endeavor. Many of these structures are beyond repair. I’ve been involved in the futile attempt to save debar pond lodge in Franklin county wilderness. To me this endeavor which could have been resolved easily again has become mired in politics in a system trying to keep the adirondacks wild. So why can we not save a beautiful Adirondack camp rather than ramshackle buildings that the town of north Hudson has persisted to restore. So adirondacks wild only works for certain areas apparently..
I wonder if the current property owner has looked into a Les Pendens filing?
The State has managed to screw up the Frontier Town property every step of the way. For starters they overbuilt and under built the campground and day use area. The campground and day use area are without question beautiful. The problems however are numerous. The equestrian area provides no shade, they basically made it into a big parking lot. The original trail material was not appropriate for horses. The campground has about ten campsites with electric outside of the equestrian area, the remaining 40 or so have no electric yet some have electric for car charging. The non electric sites are fabulous some are 60 feet deep so they definitely can accommodate travel trailers yet no electric. Someone decided to have right and left sites yet every travel trailer commercial made has the entry on the same side so that campgrounds can be made universal, you back your unit in and you have your little area and you have your little area. I have seen people have to pull straight in, leave their unit have way down the driveway of the site and disconnect tow vehicle. A complete lack of planning. Have camped there numerous times to see the electric look fully booked and only a handful of others camping in non electric. As far as the day use area, it’s beautiful but the next person to pay to use it will probably be the first. It has a large pavilion and no fewer then ten barbecue stations that don’t look like they have ever been used. No one is going to pay an entry fee to use a park as there is so much free stuff to do in the area. The day use has parking for 50 cars, we have never seen anyone but other campers there
What happened with the beautiful fire places they had the first year. I dont know facts but heard something was wrong with them so they had to replace them ALL! This is New York for you.
I’m not a lawyer and will admit that I don’t understand all the complexities of property law. However, if the purchase loan was not repaid and the lien holder foreclosed and then sold the property to recover the money he lent to Skiff, I don’t understand why Skiff’s descendants several generations later would have any claim to the property.