CHESTER – A diverse and sizable crowd consisting of business leaders, local elected officials, members of organized labor, as well as local residents, gathered Monday evening in a rally of support for the New York Legoland project.
Organized labor is hoping for construction jobs
Kids are hoping to have fun at the theme park
In addition to Merlin Entertainments, the Legoland developers, opening their community outreach center last week, a court challenge Wednesday and a public hearing at the Goshen Town Planning Board regarding zoning laws related to the Legoland project.
Orange County Chamber of Commerce President Lynn Cione, who has been a vocal advocate of this project, as well as a Goshen resident herself, said despite the influx of visitors and potential traffic inconveniences, she believes this project is the best thing for Goshen and the county.
“We are looking forward to this,” said Cione. “This is a great thing to expand the tax base in Goshen. It’s a wonderful opportunity for the other businesses to be able to grow, and to bring in new businesses.”
Carol Cullen, a self-described active resident in the Goshen area, added her support is not just reliant upon local business growth, but is stemmed from the knowledge of municipal owned properties in Goshen, relaying that properties, such as the Legoland project, serve no benefit to the local economy, and residents, if not commercially operated by a viable business.
“Here in Goshen we’re unique because we’re the county seat and we have so many pieces of property that are not taxable because of that,” said Cullen. “We need, what we call, rateables and Legoland is going to be that for us and we’re encouraging Legoland, as well as other companies, to come into our area to help our community thrive and grow. We need to take Goshen into this century and this is one way I hope we’ll be able to do that.”
Opponents to the project say it will change the face of the Town and Village of Goshen forever, create a traffic nightmare and negatively impact the environment.
