Having successfully overcome one legal challenge from the Awosting Club, the town of Gardiner is now prepared to pursue further legal action against the glamping facility.

The Supreme Court of Ulster County, in June, dismissed an Article 78 procedure filed when the town rejected the Awosting Club’s campground application. That action stemmed from the facility’s use of geodomes on the property, which the town says are permanent structures that were installed without a building permit. The Town Board had determined that the Awosting Club no longer falls under the town’s definition of a “campground,” but rather is a lodging facility and that the geodomes were “illegally erected without authorization and required permits.”

In the June 6, 2023 Order, the Supreme Court approved the Town’s request to dismiss the Article 78 Proceeding. The Court found, among other things, that the Owner had not used all administrative remedies before filing the Article 78 Proceeding and that the Owner had the right to ask the Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) not to get involved. The Zoning Board of Appeal’s ruling may have been appealed by the Owner if he or she disagreed with the CEO’s view. The CEO’s previous determination that the owner’s usage of the subject property was not in compliance was rejected by the Supreme Court.

The Awosting Club appealed the decision, filing for a re-argument. That petition was denied in an August 24 ruling in which the Supreme Court ruled that the claim petitioner Camilla Bradley (the Awosting Club owner) that the “informal communications” she had received from the CEO were sufficient to constitute a determination of prior non-conforming use. The Court additionally reiterated that “contrary to Petitioner’s repeated assertions, there is no prior determination from the CEO that the use of the prior is a prior non-conforming use entitled to protection.”

Since that ruling, town officials said the Awosting Club has continued to use the geodomes for what they have determined is a non-conforming use. At this month’s town board meeting, the town board voted to pursue legal action once again, utilizing the Huntington-based legal firm of Hamburger & Yaffe, LLP to represent the town.