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Key Points

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Why subsidize such a giant development? The area is already thriving
Big brother from Frankfort saving Eastern Ky with a heavy hand. But goals have wandered dramatically
Labor force concerns in area
Top-down development sends lion’s share of money out of state
Exploitation of the region’s resources and lack of zoning
Local authorities burdened with upkeep of infrastructure with minimal taxes gathered from resort
Real danger present for inexperienced visitors resort aims to attract

 

 

The Gorge and the businesses which surround it are thriving right now due to personal investment and hard work to create sustainable businesses. Why is this giant $100+ million resort being greatly subsidized in an area which doesn’t have a great need compared to other counties in Eastern Kentucky?
  • Millions in tax subsidies to build and sustain a development that is unwanted by a large number of local residents and business owners.
  • While increased visitation will wear down existing infrastructure RRED proposes that the resort would recoup all sales tax for a period of time via TIF, diverting tax money away from local government which is responsible for upkeep of local infrastructure.
  • $5 Million is expected to be directly granted to project by state according to RRED documents. This money could be used for subsidies to help locally-owned area businesses establish themselves or help local businesses find usable land for non-intrusive expansion?

 

Big brother coming in from Frankfort with big promises to save the poor and helpless residents of Eastern Kentucky with big ideas – but this project has wandered from original goals and no longer impacts the communities it set out to help originally.
  • Clearly there was not enough public input gathered from this specific region about whether locals wanted a destination resort before commissioning reports from HVS and Stantec.
    • “Top-down” method of operating on this project has left locals out of the planning process.
  • The original goal of this entire initiative dating back to 2012 was to replace the loss of coal jobs in Eastern Kentucky with tourism.
  • This current plan as it exists today has been remolded so significantly by RRED organizers to reduce local outrage that it barely resembles the original vision of the first Kentucky Chamber of Commerce organizers, and as a result the plan lacks the impact the project once aspired to.
    • Original HVS report called for building a “modern well-planned Gatlinburg” coupled with a destination resort to attract more than one million visitors and initiate an economic stimulus via that tourism to Eastern Kentucky.
    • Lowest estimates by RRED officials now state 75,000 guests per year.
    • Forcing the project to focus on Red River Gorge instead of developing new tourism in other parts of Eastern Kentucky seemingly caused the project to drop much of its potential impact. In its effort to fit where it is both unwanted and unneeded here in Slade, Ky the project willingly veered away from its original expressed goal of replacing coal jobs which have been lost in Eastern Kentucky and reduced any potential impact on the local economy in the process.

 

Labor force in the area is limited. Many business owners are forced to close seasonally because they cannot keep enough employees to stay open.
  • 300+ new jobs touted, 500+ total claimed when including peripheral jobs such as plumbers, mechanics, etc. but how many of these jobs will ACTUALLY go to Powell, Menifee, Lee or Wolfe county residents.
    • 30+ minute drive to most of Menifee County
    • 1+ hour drive to most of Eastern Kentucky from there, so how will many Eastern Kentuckians afford commute for $33K/year jobs?
      • Expenses such as gas, vehicle maintenance, lost time are significant negative factors.
    • Likely many unfilled jobs so resort will turn to H1 visa employees INSTEAD of hiring employees from Powell, Wolfe, Lee or Menifee Counties.
  • How does this help replace Eastern Kentucky coal jobs again?

 

Lion’s share of income generated by this resort will be going not only out of the region but likely also out of the state as large developers are brought in to build and manage the project.
  • Local builders unable to supply workforce or skillsets needed to build something like this, so outside construction and engineering firms will need to be brought in to build and manage construction.
  • There is no provision in the Stantec report to hire local builders or tradespeople and RRED has made no indication it has plans to do so.
  • Locals unlikely to fill all of 300+ new staff positions since local businesses already have issues retaining full-time employees, so positions rrgu_visainformation of local residents.
  • RRED claims the resort will not impact local economies but certainly is likely to divert any occasional big-budget visitor away from locally-owned lodging options to the non-locally owned and taxpayer-subsidized resort.
  • This resort will generate jobs, but the jobs generated will not be career-path jobs. .

 

This is exploitation of the area’s lack of protections, zoning, and regional organization to force a non-native resort into the area despite clear objections of locals.
  • Lack of, and need for, zoning is acknowledged in Stantec report and also by members of RRED in town hall meetings, and they even go as far as to say that zoning is needed. However, they clearly have no intent of passing any zoning until AFTER their resort has been built.
  • In fact, the proposal specifically states that the resort should USE ANY NEW ZONING to ensure reduced competition in the area for the resort.
    • In the first virtual town hall meeting, following an outcry of objections from locals, RRED organizers stated that this is no longer something they are pursuing. But there’s no way to know if they will pursue it in the future after the resort is built.
  • This raises questions about the viability of the resort at all. If this grand idea can’t stand on its own two feet with all the tax subsidies it prospects that it will be granted, why would it need to further use zoning to exclude competition only AFTER the resort has been built?

 

Damage to environment and infrastructure and local county governments and non-resort taxpayers will be burdened with upkeep.

Since resort proposes to redirect the majority of taxes paid by the resort back into the development via the use of tax incentives, it would mean degradation of infrastructure in the first 10 years caused by increased usage from resort guests would be paid for by other local taxpayers and NOT by taxes generated by the resort.

Tourism and Tax-Increment Financing incentives, if received from the State of Kentucky, would mean the majority of taxes paid by the resort would be funneled back into the resort to offset building and operating costs for up to 10 years after construction. These alone would account for $30.4 million in taxes which would go back to the resort and NOT the local economy.

  • Roads
    • Questions of scale with traffic and infrastructure
    • Increased traffic will speed up degradation of roads which are already difficult to maintain.
    • In many cases no extra room to widen roads.
  • Nothing from RRED to handle increased traffic except vaguely recommending establishing a shuttle service in Stantec report. A grand total of 3 paragraphs are dedicated to the description and feasibility.
    • Who would operate? Fee structure? This is not clear.
    • Does not solve issue of traffic on trails or destruction due to inexperienced visitors, only parking issues at trailheads and some car traffic.
  • Degradation of trails and parking locations.
  • Increased trash is inevitable.
  • Human waste.
  • Increased spread of invasive and/or destructive species.
  • Forest fires.
  • Sewage/sanitation.
  • Water.

 

Area dangerous for people who are not experienced with paying attention to safety and danger.
  • Even experienced hikers die regularly at the Gorge from falls, inexperienced visitors are more likely to be injured or killed from falls or wildlife, or will become lost and require rescue services.
    • Stresses resources of search and rescue and other safety services
  • Plan creators and RRED developers expect that visitors to the resort will largely stay within the bounds of the development since they are inexperienced relative to typical Gorge visitors.
    • We cannot believe that a “destination resort” marketed around the Red River Gorge would attract visitors who do not intend to actually hike within the actual bounds of the Red River Gorge area. Period.

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