Glenville ropes course opens after some rocky moments

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

Michael Cellini is photographed at his Mountain Ridge Adventure Treetop Challenge Course & Zip Line Park on Weatherwax Road in West Glenville in April. The park officially opened on Friday.

Mountain Ridge Adventure, a challenge course and zip line park in West Glenville, officially opened Friday after months of controversy and discussion.

The course features zip lines and ropes courses with varying degrees of difficulty. Visitors can swing from ropes, hang and slide on the zip lines and navigate obstacles on the different courses. Owner Michael Cellini said a large group attended on the first day.

The park is on Weatherwax Road, within a rural residential and agricultural zoning district.

In 2014, Cellini proposed building the course on his 50-acre plot. The project was approved last August by the town Planning Board, but as it progressed was met with frustration from neighbors.

Some living in the area opposed the project as a commercial endeavor in a rural community, and worried about Cellini expanding the ropes course. Others expressed concerns about parking spilling out onto the street.

Cellini previously said the course is designed to only allow 10 people every half hour, which should prevent the parking lot from overflowing. In addition, the Town Board held a hearing in April to put up signs signaling parking isn’t allowed for the course on Weatherwax Road.

Cellini said Monday he doesn’t have anything else to say about the issues raised by community members.

“We were approved, built our course, trained our staff, were inspected by New York state, received our permit and have officially opened,” Cellini said. “The past is the past and now it’s time to ‘Experience the Adventure.’ ”