Overview
- Unofficial results near midnight showed 45% voting yes and 42% no with 87% of precincts reporting, leaving the outcome undetermined as about 467,000 ballots left the question blank.
- The measure would amend the state Constitution’s “Forever Wild” clause to allow the Olympic Regional Development Authority to operate and maintain facilities at Mount Van Hoevenberg.
- It is designed to legalize construction already completed at the Olympic site by bringing the project into compliance with Article 14.
- Development would be limited to just over 300 acres for Nordic skiing and biathlon trails and related facilities, with amenities such as zip lines, hotels, and swimming pools explicitly barred on Forest Preserve land.
- Passage would require adding 2,500 acres to the Adirondack Forest Preserve statewide, and the measure is the year’s only statewide ballot proposition with support from groups including the Adirondack Council and Protect the Adirondacks.