Trump drops plans for 2 golf courses
From the Journal News, Wednesday Feb 13, 2002

By ROB RYSER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: Feb. 13, 2002)

YORKTOWN — Donald Trump withdrew his plans for a $10 million golf course at French Hill yesterday, chastising town politicians for not supporting it and promising to sell the land to a residential developer.

"I got fed up with Linda Cooper's delays," said Trump, referring to the Yorktown supervisor. "My problem is that I can make much more money with housing than I can with a golf course."

In a letter sent to Cooper yesterday, Trump charged that "you have done a terrible disservice to your constituents who have sadly lost out on a tremendous opportunity."

Trump also confirmed yesterday that his plans to build a golf course in Putnam Valley are finished, and he will sell the 300 acres known as Indian Hill, north of the Jefferson Valley Mall.

"The people in Putnam County have been great, but some of that property is in Yorktown, and based on the negative reception I received there, I have put a 'For Sale' sign out," Trump said.

That means out of four Trump golf courses originally planned for the area, only two are left — the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, which will open this spring, and Seven Springs, an 18-hole proposal bordering Bedford, New Castle and North Castle.

Trump threatened to pull out of the Seven Springs project and put 125 homes on the land a year ago, but he said yesterday that he no longer planned to do that, noting that Seven Springs was "moving along quite nicely."

In contrast, Trump said he spent more than $1 million on blueprints and consultants the past four years on French Hill. Trump would not name a buyer for the 155-acre forest, but said it should draw interest from "every developer in Westchester."

Yorktown Councilman Nicholas Bianco said the site was too small for the golf course and driving range that Trump wanted.

Cooper acknowledged that the town would rather see fairways on the property than driveways, but not at the expense of environmental destruction.

"We will not roll over and give an application an approval without due diligence," Cooper said.

The Trump application in Yorktown has been hung up on water-quality questions by the town, the state, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and other agencies.

"He's like the bully on the playground," Cooper said. "Whether you are a big person or a little person, you have to follow the same rules. If he chooses to stop the process, so be it."

NYPIRG Home Page  •  NYPIRG Environment Page   •   Watershed Page