Settlement to pave the way for Six Senses in Hyde Park, Clinton

Mar 10

Written By HVNY

Members of the Hyde Park and Clinton town boards will meet this week to vote on a settlement agreement with CECNY Land Holdings, LLC, the backers of the Six Senses Conference Center, a 40,00-square foot wellness retreat proposed on 236-acres off of Route 9G on the border of the two towns.

In its proposal, CECNY/Six Senses seeks to add a secondary access road to the proposed conference center, but conference centers are not permitted in the Town of Hyde Park’s Greenbelt District, where the additional access road would be developed.

But to avoid a lawsuit from CECNY over the town’s zoning code, which would have cost taxpayers $150,000, according to Hyde Park Supervisor Alfred Torreggiani, in January the Town of Hyde Park amended Local Law G to “allow private driveways or roads in Hyde Park to provide access to uses in adjacent municipalities, provided those uses are permitted by the neighboring municipality.”

In a letter filed with the Dutchess County Clerk on March 4, legal representatives for CECNY Land Holdings LLC wrote Dutchess County Supreme Court Judge Hon. Edward T. McLoughlin that “this matter has been resolved by settlement.”

“I am confident that the respective Town Boards, in front of whom the Stipulation resolving these matters will be presented next week, will adopt the same. If that is not the case, I will advise the Court immediately.”

According to an email this morning from the local watchdog group, Common Senses HV, “The agreement drops the Hyde Park lawsuit by Six Senses but ties the hands of both Hyde Park and Clinton – and their ZBAs – in the resort project review forever in ways big and small. Our Elected Officials are ready to agree by contract that even if a court rules that the January Hyde Park Local Law was illegal and strikes it down, the Hyde Park ZBA decision denying the Six Senses application will not be reinstated.”

“Despite the fact that the Town of Clinton ZBA is still being sued by IHG Six Senses, the Town is ready to agree to the ‘retroactive nullification’ of their own ZBA's decision, and agree that this settlement agreement meets the ZBA's legal requirement of a ‘non-appealable decision’ regarding the access roads.”

The Hyde Park Town Board will meet on Monday, March 10, 2025 at 6pm. Here’s a link to the agenda. (The agreement settlement is item number 23.)

The Town of Clinton board will meet on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 6:30pm. Here’s a link to the Town of Clinton board’s agenda. (“New Business” number 4.) Check back for updates.

Town of Rhinebeck sues Hyde Park, Clinton over Six Senses

On Monday night, the Rhinebeck Town Board voted 4-0 to file a lawsuit against neighboring towns Clinton and Hyde Park over recent concessions to Six Senses developers. The 236-acre high-end resort spans all three towns with the main entrance proposed off of Route 9G on the border of Hyde Park and Rhinebeck.