GOSHEN – The Appellate
Division of State Supreme Court, Second Department, has granted a stay
on the clear-cutting of woodlands on property that Merlin Entertainment
hope s to build a Legoland theme park in the Town of Goshen.
The project is being objected by Concerned Citizens for the Hudson Valley,
whose attorney, Michael Sussman, filed the appellate case.
“I don’t think the project should be perceived as fait accompli
and those who are doing this project – the millionaires and billionaires
– are literally raping Goshen, which is not too strong a statement;
that’s what’s going on here,” he said. “Getting
state subsidies for what they are doing.”
Meanwhile, Legoland project front man Phil Royle said they are “confident
the papers we have submitted to the court will demonstrate we have followed
every Town of Goshen requirement that led to the town’s issuance
of the proper permits to clear trees on property, which we now own. With
these current approvals in place, we have been clearing land since January
3. Our tree clearing plan has been re-verified in all of our approved
permit applications.”
Royle said they are “equally confident that once this review is
completed, the Temporary Restraining Order will be dismissed.”
The court said a decision on the merits of the concerned citizens’
effort to stop clear-cutting might be provided by the end of the month.
