WINDHAM - The recusal of three Windham planning board members from the ongoing review of a proposed luxury hotel at the Windham Mountain Club has now prompted demands for a fourth withdrawal.
If that occurs, it would leave only two planners to determine the fate of the project, possibly bringing an already controversial approval process to a screeching halt and putting the town in uncharted legal waters.
A public hearing was held, October 1, on an amendment to Site Plan and Preliminary Plat approvals made by planners in April, 2025, as part of a long term WMC development Master Plan.
That Master Plan included 60-plus townhouses on land historically used for visitor parking as the ski slope shifted toward greater privatization.
The offered amendment would eliminate 8 of those residences and lots, replacing them with an upscale, 26-room hotel and an associated four-bedroom detached unit/cottage for commercial use.
A group of local hoteliers have raised multiple concerns about the proposed new sleepover since it became widely known, this past spring, and in recent weeks they have doubled down on their misgivings.
Planners have been conducting a required environmental impact study, determining, on September 3, there will be no adverse effects, thereby paving the way for the next phase of moving the project forward.
Other hoteliers, however, are resisting that ruling, believing the new hotel, would negatively impact “community character,” a phrase used in a separate agreement signed between the town and WMC.
That side agreement was written in response to similar opposition voiced by local business owners, along with hoteliers, about limits on public access to the ski slope initially introduced in the Master Plan.
Middle ground was reached, increasing the limits amid officially unverified but reliable speculation that without that compromise, the original Master Plan would have become a more cumbersome and costly process.
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Fast forwarding to the present, the October 1 public hearing was preceded by a request from at least two hoteliers to “pause” the planning board review, very likely stalling the WMC announced 2028 hotel opening.
In a letter to planners read at the hearing, Albergo Allegria Hotel owner Marianna Radelich Leman noted many oppositions to the amendment including that, “a significant amount of recusal has happened.”
Two planners have stepped away from the talks and any vote due to minor work situations at WMC while the third recused planner is a full WMC member, all wanting to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest.
Planners have given no indication there will be a pause, keeping the public hearing open for written comment which has come quickly from John Flannigan, the proprietor of Wylder Windham resort.
Flannigan has emerged as a vigorous fighter of the amendment, focusing on the overall planning board process.
In an October 2 email to planners, Flannigan asks, “who decides who recuses themself and who does not? The town board and the town supervisor appoint the planning members.
“Given these circumstances, I am formally requesting that the Town Board
and appropriate municipal counsel review and provide a written
determination concerning whether a legally sufficient quorum of the Planning Board was present for [the October 1] hearing.”
Three members were active, representing a legal quorum able to conduct the meeting and vote on matters before the board. One of the three was planning board chairwoman Lisa Jaeger.
“Specifically, the concern raised is that Ms. Jaeger serves as Chairperson of the Planning Board while also serving as Chairperson of the Chamber of
Commerce, with [WMC president] Kristen Leach serving as her [Chamber of Commerce board of directors] partner,” Flannigan wrote.
And further, “Kristen Leach is the applicant for Windham Mountain Club,” Flannigan wrote, adding that the three planners, “recused themselves
based upon identified conflicts, yet their relationships to the [WMC] pale
in comparison to Ms. Jaeger's and the Mountain.”
The ski center has long been, and continues to be, a steady contributor to support various community events and entities, including the annual Autumn Affair, organized and run by the Chamber of Commerce.
Jaeger serves in a volunteer capacity with the Chamber even as Flannigan asks planners, “whether Ms. Jaeger should participate in further proceedings concerning this application, and…
“Whether [the October 1] public hearing and any actions taken during it were legally valid and should remain part of the ongoing review process,” due to Jaeger’s participation, Flannigan wrote.
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The planning board is currently operating with three members, including an alternate called into service following the three existing recusals.
A legal quorum is met with the three remaining members, though that would not be the case if only two were able to hear WMC business.
Flannigan has also raised questions about comments made by two of the three non-recused members, saying publicly, prior to making a formal environmental impact decision, they did not see any roadblocks.
“The important point is that a planning board member’s prior commitment can become legally significant when it demonstrates that the member is no longer approaching the application with an open mind,” Flannigan wrote.
Flannigan, in an October 5 email to the town’s special counsel assisting the planning board, filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to the town for voluminous records related to the overall review process.
The requests date back to January, 2024 with the next planning board session slated for October 15 where planners could be responding to questions and comments from the October 1 hearing.
“Please also provide existing records explaining the distinction, if any, between the circumstances of [the three recused planners] and the circumstances of Lisa Jaeger,” Flannigan wrote.
