No amount of greenwashing can make Belleayre a suitable site for a large development. Complicating the picture is the fact that large developments change the natural pattern of water runoff. A golf course recently built in Westchester County had 11 layers of stormwater controls. After heavy rains the water breached all of them, silted streams and caused an 1800-foot silt plume in the Muscoot Reservoir. Similar incidents have occurred in Monroe, NY and in New Hampshire.
Golf courses are also heavy water users.
The hamlet of Pine Hill already has grave problems with its water supply infrastructure. Many local residents were for a time rationed to an hour or two a day of water, and the whole system was subject to a boil-water advisory until recently. The project would have economic and social impacts as well. According to the developers, the resort would create over 800 jobs during construction, and 350 permanent jobs plus some 150 seasonal jobs. But most of these would be poorly paid service jobs such as chambermaids and dishwashers.