Glenville ropes course case heading to court

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

Mountain Ridge Adventure owner Michael Cellini is seen at the ropes and zip line course on Weatherwax Road in Glenville this spring.

Mountain Ridge Adventure’s owners will have their day in court over unfiled paperwork the town of Glenville said is necessary for the business to operate.

The owners of the treetop adventure course in West Glenville opened and have been operating since the start of June, but town officials said they did so without filing the proper paperwork. The owners will appear Aug. 4 in Glenville Town Court, where a judge could deliver a final decision on the case. At an initial hearing earlier this month, the owners pleaded not guilty to operating without a permit, Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle said.

If found guilty, the owners could face a fine of up to $250 per day that they’ve been open. The adventure course has been open since June 3. It expanded from operating on weekends only to full-time on June 20.

The town issued a notice of violation in early June, saying owner Michael Cellini had opened the ropes and zip line course illegally. It said Cellini had not filed the necessary paperwork required by town codes for entertainment businesses that use mechanical equipment. The documents Cellini needed to file, according to the town, included a permit from New York state, proof of insurance, and a permit issued by the Town Board.

Cellini has said he’s done everything necessary to be able to open, adding that the state Department of Labor told him he doesn’t legally have to show his state permits to the town.

A Freedom of Information Law request filed by The Gazette with the Department of Labor to view the inspection documents is still pending.

Cellini has also said that at no point in the Planning Board or Zoning Board proceedings on his application was it indicated he’d need an amusement park permit.

Mountain Ridge Adventure, which is on Weatherwax Road, has been a contentious subject since it was first proposed a couple of years ago. Most neighbors have been opposed to the ropes course, saying they would prefer to keep the area rural.

At the June Town Board meeting, residents spoke about fears that the course was changing the nature of the neighborhood, which is mainly farmland and woods.

The course sits on Cellini’s 50-acre plot in West Glenville, which is in a rural residential and agricultural zoning district. Neighbors had previously expressed concerns over noise and traffic created by the adventure course.