Save Our Rural Towns

Help preserve our Clean Water, Clean Air, Wildlife, Endangered Species, Historic Waters, Economic Fairness and small-town rural character. Learn how the planned IHG Six Senses Hotel harms our community and makes a mockery of Clinton's long-standing no-hotels laws and Comprehensive Plan and Hyde Park's Greenbelt District protections.

BREAKING NEWS

Tell the elected CLINTON Town Board... RESIDENTS are OPPOSED!

IHG Six Senses has co-opted both Hyde Park and Clinton Town Boards to surrender to their resort development in our most environmentally sensitive area, directly against Hyde Park's Greenbelt District and Clinton's Comprehensive Plan.

Hyde Park has already voted to sign the agreement (HERE) with IHG, and Clinton is voting Tuesday March 11.

Your recorded vocal or e-mail opposition may well help hold the Clinton board accountable for their actions against residents interests in any future legal disputes.

On Tuesday March 11 2025, 6:30pm...

Despite major objections from the town's citizens, the Clinton Town Board is poised to vote FOR signing onto the IHG Six Senses legal agreement (HERE) to allow the IHG Six Senses project application to proceed, insulating IHG from any pending or even future legal challenges to Town Board action or inaction. While the Town Board has publicly CONCEEDED that the Conference Center Law "needs to be fixed", they have deliberately chosen NOT to impose a MORATORIUM on current or future Conference Center applications, which is exactly what NY State's Moratorium Laws were designed for. The Town of Clinton has had ample time to correct the clear disparities between the Comprehensive Plan and its land-use laws, but has chosen NOT to do so, and instead to let this project slide through. This is a complete BETRAYAL OF THE PUBLIC TRUST in not standing FOR the town's residents, and instead standing FOR a foreign corporation that will add no value to our rural town, and will only do damage to our natural resources, the character of our town, and create additional burdens on town services and resources, e.g. fire district, aquifer. Note that the Board agreeing to sign onto the IHG Six Senses agreement nullifies the town ZBA's judgement in not allowing the application to proceed, but leaves IHG Six Senses lawsuit against our ZBA in place. The Town of Clinton is agreeing to allow the IHG Conference Center application pass no matter how laws may change in the future. IHG on the other hand, will be able to litigate any and all town actions that don't suit IHG's desires.

PLEASE EMAIL the Clinton Town Board members NOW by clicking HERE. (DO CHANGE and personalize the form text, since the board will otherwise treat it as "just a form letter". Residents of Clinton should include their Clinton address.) Let them know you are firmly opposed to the town rolling over and allowing this large commercial development antithetical to the Town's Comprehensive Plan, rather than imposing an appropriate moratorium. And politely request a RESPONSE.

SHOW UP & SPEAK -- DEMAND that they:

VOTE AGAINST entering into the proposed illegal agreement with IHG Six Senses and Hyde Park
ADOPT A MORATORIUM on all pending and future Conference Center Applications while the town recinds or works to fix their flawed law.
RECIND OR FIX the Conference Center Law to align our land-use laws with the Town's Comprehensive Plan, as required by NY State Law.

Tuesday 6:30pm at: Clinton Town Hall, 1215 Centre Rd, Rhinebeck NY

Lastly...

ENGAGE YOUR NEIGHBORS

Please encourage your friends and neighbors to volunteer and join our mailing list by using THIS FORM. What's happening affects YOU and the entire Hudson Valley, whether you live in Clinton, Hyde Park, Rhinebeck or elsewhere!

While BOTH boards may well vote to sign on to this agreement for their own interests, recorded vocal opposition will serve to hold these board members accountable for their actions against their residents at a later time.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

Let's be crystal clear. Our silence on this will be viewed as our implicit forfeiture of control over similar future development affecting us and our towns of Clinton & Hyde Park. Big developers have not only come to expect it, they're COUNTING on the FAILURE of leadership in our small-town boards.

There will be no “do-overs”. Any future impacts and complaints associated with such developments will be falling on legally hamstrung ears.

Please:

SHARE this information with your neighbors! (You would be surprised how few people are aware of this.)
E-MAIL COMMENTS to Town of Clinton Board Members. Either:
- Click on their names on the following web page for individual e-mails: https://www.townofclinton.com/government/town-board/ , OR
- CLICK HERE to e-mail ALL Clinton Town Board members. (DO CHANGE and personalize the form text. Residents of Clinton should include their Clinton address.)
ATTEND AND SPEAK UP at the monthly Town Board meetings. If you are willing to speak, tell the Town Board in no uncertain terms that you OPPOSE the resort development and expect them to protect the interests of the town’s citizens over foreign hotel corporations.
STAY INFORMED by adding your name to our e-mail list by filling out this form. (We only e-mail to inform you of issues related to this topic, and we do not share your e-mail/contact information.)
DONATE TO OUR LEGAL FUND if you possibly can. We are in this for the LONG HAUL. All donated funds go to legal services to fight the good fight, and can be kept PRIVATE! Either GoFundMe for online contribution, or Stripe for direct credit card contribution, or we accept checks and even cash - just email us.)

History

A massive luxury hotel and resort proposal for 2450 Route 9G & 68 Naylor Rd in Town of Clinton & Hyde Park, is in final stages of approvals. The foreign-owned multi-billion dollar InterContinental Hotels Group's (IHG) "Six Senses" brand that will directly impact Town of Clinton, Hyde Park and Rhinebeck. IHG, with corporate news releases highlighting Six Senses as the “#1 Hotel brand worldwide”, is attempting to shoehorn their new hotel development within a previous Town of Clinton "Special Use" Permit for small conference centers. Their plans are clearly for a large resort hotel, given the proposal's details for:

240 guests daily
150 employees, some living onsite
dozens of new buildings
several swimming pools & pool houses
a massive 40,000 sq. ft. spa & more resort features
guests-only restaurant
600 cars daily, plus additional delivery and service vehicles year-round

The intent of the Special Use Permit for a small conference center was never meant for large hotels, which are not permitted under the Town of Clinton zoning law. (A survey prior to The Comprehensive Plan found the vast majority of Clinton residents DO NOT want hotels in Town of Clinton, and this was identified in the Plan.) The historic property known as Old Stone Farm had a main house with 10 rooms and a separate house with 4 bedrooms, according to their website.

You might ask, "How did we not know"? It's because IHG and their hired hands, have been quietly pushing this proposal through before local residents know what happened to them. They've even told town officials that “the community has welcomed them”, while instead, the "community" has been deliberately kept in the dark about these plans.

More Information...

When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird... a duck.

-- James Whitcomb Riley

What's the Harm?

This development would have dramatic and irreversible impacts on the environment and our community. Some of the immediate impacts include:

Increased traffic congestion
Loss of rural and scenic character
Pollution of watershed and water supply issues
Endangered species risk (turtles, butterflies, bats) and loss of habitat for precious wildlife
Wetlands, Forest and Farmland Destruction
Light and Noise Pollution
Infrastructure Burden & Stormwater Management

This affects the entire region’s environment and community, and sets a terrible precedent for future projects, perhaps in your own neighborhood. TOGETHER we can make our voices heard and say NO to developers who are willing to degrade our communities and resources solely for their own profits.

More Information...