RAY BROOK -- The Adirondack Park Agency has deemed the Adirondack Museum application complete.

The museum, with a main site in Blue Mountain Lake, has proposed to build an 8,200-square-foot "layered" branch building where the stone Church of the Nazarene stands on Main Street in Lake Placid.

The approximately $6 million terraced structure will allow museum visitors to see over the tops of mostly two-story shops with an overlook built from a green roof lawn.

A vertical wooden tower reaching 64 feet would encase an elevator for universal access to the view.

Adirondack Museum officials presented the unique design and plans for the Lake Placid branch to the Lake Placid/North Elba Joint Review Board in early April. But the seven-member board wrangled first over the letter of zoning codes specifying tower height and then over the building's aesthetic fit on Main Street.

The Review Board reserved its vote pending APA notice of complete permit.

In July, APA asked Adirondack Museum engineers for more information on 10 issues, including the church's date of construction, traffic studies and estimated number of visitors.

Museum attorney Jim Brooks provided answers to the APA and to the Review Board Nov. 15.

With the APA application now deemed complete, the project permit may go to a vote when the Joint Review Board meets Wednesday evening.

APA staff will simultaneously begin a formal review of the project with deference to local review, according to APA spokesman Keith McKeever.

"Staff did determine the application was complete on Friday. We now start formal review of the project. We have to start and finish review in 60 days."

Since the Adirondack Museum project is in a hamlet and in a designated growth center, APA will rely extensively on local opinion of the project.

"By design, we have limited jurisdiction," McKeever said. "There are no APA variances that apply to this. Every structure over 40 (feet) requires a permit, but if a local government grants a variance, it means the local government finds the project compatible and consistent."

The Adirondack Museum received a zoning variance exempting it from some parking requirements in the village.

The Review Board had previously determined the museum's tower height is compatible with zoning law.