HYDE PARK — Amid calls from residents to “do the right thing,” Hyde Park’s Town Board passed a law Monday night that removes a major zoning hurdle for a controversial luxury development.
Local Law No. G amends Hyde Park’s zoning code to allow any road or driveway in the town to be used to access property in a neighboring locality, even if that property’s use violates Hyde Park’s code. Previously, such use was not permitted, which was a sticking point in InterContinental Hotels Group’s attempts to build a luxury development under its Six Senses brand.
While most of the 236.6 acres Six Senses wants to develop are in the town of Clinton, the sole entrance to the site is in Hyde Park. Developers want to expand the access road to the property but have been denied by Hyde Park’s zoning administrator and Zoning Board of Appeals, which last summer ruled that the project constituted a lodging facility, which is not permitted in the town’s environmentally sensitive zoning area. Developers had argued the development would be more of an event-driven camp/outdoor recreation facility…