McCauley Pond, looking north from the south shore.McCauley Pond is a eighty-acre pond near McMasters Crossing on McMasters Road. The shoreline of the pond is owned by several camp owners and by the state of New York. There are no public roads into the pond. The tracks of the former New York Central run along the south end of the pond; the corridor is slated to become a multi-use trail. The pond drains via Fish Creek to Lower Saranac Lake.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, June 11, 1984
17-year-old drowns
SARANAC LAKE - A 17-year-old Lake Clear youth drowned Friday when the canoe from which he and a friend were fishing overturned.
State police divers recovered the body of Archie W. Blanchard III in about 15 feet of water, 150 feet off the shore of McCauley Pond, at 9 a.m. Saturday. The canoe carrying Blanchard and Kenneth Pickreign, also 17, of Lake Colby, capsized about 9:30 p.m. Friday.
According to state police from Ray Brook headquarters, Blanchard and Pickreign were going to a small island in the middle of the pond when the canoe tipped over, throwing them both into the water. Blanchard reportedly appeared at the surface one time before disappearing for good. Pickreign was able to swim to shore.
An autopsy Saturday listed the cause of Blanchard's death as drowning.
Blanchard, the son of Archie W. Blanchard Jr. of Lake Clear and Wilma Jean Wenner of Saranac Lake, was a sophomore at Saranac Lake High School at the time of his death. He enjoyed outdoor activities, including hunting and fishing.
He had recently begun involvement in the Reserve National Guard and was to have begun active training in July.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, June 1, 1994
Rejected once, developer makes new pitch to reopen Camp Triangle
By TOM HENECKER
Enterprise Staff Writer
SARANAC LAKE — An overnight childrens' camp since 1959, Camp Triangle in Lake Clear was recently denied a variance of a Harrietstown zoning ordinance that would allow the property to once again be used as a camp for kids. However, a little-known classification, Planned Resort Development (PRD), established in 1992, may make it possible for the camp to operate once again.
According to Code Enforcement Officer Sharon Kent, the Harrietstown Board of Appeals has received an application from the camp's owner requesting the 74-acre camp on McCauley Pond in Lake Clear be re-classified as PRD. Pending notification of adjacent property owners and proper public notice, a public hearing date will be set. The hearing is expected to be June 23, Kent said.
Although the property has never been used as anything other than a children's camp, a town code, adopted while the camp was still in operation, changed the camp's land use classification to rural residential zoning. While this change put the camp into a “non-conforming” status, it was able to continue to operate under a grandfather clause.
The camp's owner, Shirley Schofield, decided to put the property up for sale in 1991 due to health reasons. There have been no children at the camp since 1990, therefore, under current zoning regulations, the non-conforming use has ceased and a children's camp is prohibited.
Several adjoining property owners attended a public hearing in April to voice their concerns about a new proposal for the property. Richard Beamish said that the rural residential zoning is what attracted the neighbors to the area. He added, “The proposal for this camp, as wonderful as it might be for somewhere else, would not be appropriate for this area.”
Schofield, on behalf of potential buyer Bob Lazanik, applied for a prohibited use variance. A public hearing was held by the Harrietstown Board of Appeals on April 26 to determine whether the zoning variance would be permitted, which would have allowed Camp Triangle to continue its operation as a children's overnight camp. Based on the potential owner's failure to meet certain criteria, including proof of financial hardship if the permit was denied or plans that would alter the character of the neighborhood, the variance was denied by a 4 to 2 vote.
Lazanik's original plans for Camp Triangle were to house 300 to 400 overnight children. “We have scaled down our plan and are now planning for 150 children,” he told those attending the hearing. Schofield explained that Camp Triangle, under her ownership, had served up to 110 children on the 74-acre parcel.
Beamish, a resident on McCauley Pond for 20 years, told the Enterprise this morning, “Camp Triangle, because of its scale and the nature of the camp, fit in well. It was a small camp with around 60 kids. What's being proposed now is much bigger.”
Another neighbor, Carl Hathaway, agreed, adding, “There were too many open ends. The plans were sketchy.” Hathaway said he wouldn't oppose a children's camp “if a good, solid, scaled down plan were presented.”
