For more than a century Chautauqua Lake has been the goose that lays golden eggs.

That was the case when lakefront hotels and amusement parks dotted the lake’s shores around the turn of the century. It was true as lakefront homes and summer cottages sprung up around the lake. The goose helped create southern Chautauqua County’s tourist economy. The goose is still capable of laying golden eggs as developers look to spend big bucks on lakefront development.

We all love the goose. We really love those golden eggs that keep dollars flowing in the summer. But we can’t seem to agree who should have access to the basket where we keep the golden eggs.

The original plan has been modified and scaled back a few times. The development now calls for 174 residential units among the condos, townhouses and single houses. The restaurant/tap house would be open to the general public. New roads would be constructed. There would be walking trails, tennis courts, and 40 seasonal boat docks open to the public. While developers want the work to begin this year, an Article 78 lawsuit has been filed in state Supreme Court seeking to overturn the Chautauqua Town Board’s approvals for the project over a variety of concerns, including a lack of consideration of the project’s impact on both the environment.

It really wasn’t that long ago, when you think about it, that local opposition helped derail the Lodge at Chautauqua Lake in Mayville. The Mayville project would have cost $18,331,000 and included 27 condominiums with traditional year-round or fractional ownership. That project had roots as early as the late 1990s, though there was as much community opposition as there was support. By 2022, the project was dead.

“After a very long journey, it has become clear that the climate in Mayville, New York is not conducive to the development of fractional condominiums on Chautauqua Lake for many reasons – some of which are obvious and many which are not,” developers said in a statement.

We don’t know if the same fate will befall Sunset View. We do know opposition to the project from those who live in the area has been intense. Sunset View is a bigger project than its Mayville counterpart would have been. There’s no doubt it will change the existing character of the Point Chautauqua area. Of course, in this case developers want to redevelop something that was already a busy and thriving tourist destination rather than taking away a pristine view of the lake. But, Point Chautauqua residents have concerns about the way their area will change if Sunset View is as successful in attracting people as Ellicott Development hopes it will be.

Chautauqua Lake keeps laying golden eggs. Ellicott Development, like the proprietors of the Mayville condominiums in our not too recent past, wants some of those eggs. Others want to keep the eggs for themselves in order to protect the goose – and their self-interests.

It’s a story we’ve heard before. History indicates we’ll hear it again in the not too distant future.