A proposal to build thirty luxury homes on a 95-acre parcel in the Town of Bolton, now under review by the Adirondack Park Agency, has drawn fire from Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, a prominent environmental conservation group.
David Gibson, a co-founder of the group, called the proposal “environmentally threatening,” stating in a press release that “the subdivision’s proposed house lots and roads appear squeezed between numerous wetlands on the project site.”
He continued, “the APA’s stated permit criteria for large subdivisions include protection of open space, wildlife, and habitat resources in accordance with the objectives of conservation design. None of these environmental criteria appear to be met by this development proposal.”
The developer, Zack Layton, disputed Gibson’s assertion, stating that the subdivision was planned “with a primary emphasis on environmental responsibility and conservation design.”
Layton said “the subdivision is not only consistent with the APA’s criteria but also provides a model of environmentally conscious land use in the Adirondack Park.”
Layton’s plan was submitted to the APA on September 12, as prescribed by the agency’s three part “Large Scale Residential Subdivision” application process. The APA then opened an initial period of public comment, during which Gibson issued his remarks.
“The application appears to contain no wildlife or habitat information, and there are no observable blocks of preserved, forested open space other than the wetlands themselves,” said Gibson. “Rather than minimize disturbance, the layout of the new housing and roads appear to spread negative impacts including loss of forest cover, possible loss of wetland functions, and loss of sensitive wildlife.”
Layton responded, “Before submitting our application to the APA, we retained professional wetland scientists to delineate all wetlands on the property in accordance with state and federal guidance. To ensure accuracy, we conducted a site walk with two APA staff wetland scientists, who reviewed and confirmed the delineations. These wetlands have been formally mapped and incorporated into the subdivision design.”
Layton said “the layout eliminates any encroachment on wetlands, prohibits development within wetland buffers, and avoids all steep slopes within the parcel that were proposed in previous designs by prior owners of the property.”
Layton said the design also “emphasizes clustered development to preserve contiguous open space, maintain natural resources, and reduce potential impacts.”
According to the Adirondack Park Agency, the project’s initial period of public comment ended October 9; it is now under review by APA staff. Once the project review is completed, a second period of public comment will be held before the project comes before the APA’s full board, to be rejected or approved.
No date has been for the project to come before the board, the APA stated.
According to the APA, “the public may make comments about this project in-person at board meetings from now up until it is on the board’s agenda for a vote. No comment received outside formal public comment periods will be included in the board’s deliberations, however.
If the subdivision is approved, Zack Layton said it is likely to serve a year-round, professional population who will find the development’s proximity to the Adirondack Northway convenient for commuting to the Capital District or parts of the Adirondacks.
‘Pinehurst,’ as the development is to be named, is located on County Route 11, between Lake Shore Drive and Schroon River Road, in the uplands above North West Bay.
“It is our intention to be in close contact with Bolton Central School, whose administrator we met with last week, to see if we can work together to create opportunities to bring more children into Bolton’s school district,” Layon said, adding, “With our site’s close proximity to the Northway, to the Sagamore Golf Course and to everything else Bolton Landing has to offer, we believe ‘Pinehurst’ will be a highly desirable place to live.”
A thirty-lot subdivision is larger than most built in the Town of Bolton in recent decades, Layton acknowledges, but he said that it meets the housing market’s demand for new homes.
“There’s no question that this is one of the bigger projects proposed in Bolton thus far. But everything in
Bolton sells. Anything priced fairly will sell,” said Layton.
Among the features of the subdivision plan is a network of hiking trails that could, potentially, intersect with a public trail system linking the Lake George Land Conservancy’s preserves in the Indian Brook Watershed with the trailheads for the state’s Cat and Thomas Mountains Preserve and those at Bolton’s Pinnacle and Bradley’s Lookout.
Layton said he is a long-time supporter of the Bolton Recreational Hub plan, a strategy to create one contiguous, integrated nature preserve within walking or cycling distance of Bolton Landing’s Main Street and its businesses.
“Our hope is that this project will serve as a catalyst for the further development of a Bolton trail corridor” said Layton. “We hope to engage the Town of Bolton and the Lake George Land Conservancy in conversations about this new land corridor.”
Layton said he is also interested in carving a new town park from the property.
“I’d love to offer another spot in Bolton where locals can just hang out, relax and spend time in nature without having to be confront the summer crowds in downtown Bolton Landing,” he said. “That, too, would require the cooperation of entities such as the Lake George Land Conservancy or the Town of Bolton.”
“Pinehurst” will be Layton’s first residential development – one where he himself will build a home and live.
“Precisely because it’s a fairly large-sized development, I’m taking my time to make certain everything is done right,” said Layton. The project has yet to be reviewed by the Bolton Town boards, but if all goes according to plan, lots could be placed on the market at the start of summer, 2026, said Layton.
