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Introduction
PROCEDURAL CONTEXT
900 King Street Owner, LLC (the “Applicant”) proposes to construct an integrated age-restricted residential community (the “Proposed Project”) that would replace the existing, largely vacant, office building and surface parking lot at 900 King Street (the “Project Site” or the “Site”) in the Village of Rye Brook (the “Village”), New York. To effectuate its proposal, the Applicant has petitioned the Village Board of Trustees (the “Lead Agency”) to amend the Rye Brook Zoning Code to include a
section entitled, 900 King Street Planned Unit Development, as Section 250-7(E)(6) (the “Proposed Zoning”). The Proposed Project and Proposed Zoning are together referred as the Proposed Action.
On June 5, 2017, the Applicant submitted its original petition to the Lead Agency (see DEIS
Appendix A-3). On December 18, 2017, after several months of discussions with the Lead Agency and the Village Planning Board, the Lead Agency determined that the Proposed Action may have one or more significant adverse environmental impacts and directed the Applicant to prepare a
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (Article 8 of Environmental Conservation Law) and its implementing regulations (6 NYCRR Part 617) (together “SEQRA”). A document determining the scope of the DEIS was drafted by the Applicant in consultation with Village staff and the Lead Agency and was the subject of a public scoping session on January 9, 2018. The Lead Agency approved the DEIS Scope, revised from the original, on January 23, 2018 (see DEIS Appendix A-1).
On May 4, 2018, the Applicant submitted the first draft of the preliminary DEIS (pDEIS) to the Lead Agency. The pDEIS was revised based on the review of the Village’s staff and the Lead Agency. On September 12, 2018, the Lead Agency issued a Notice of Completion of the DEIS. Four duly noticed public hearings were held on the DEIS by the Lead Agency on October 22, 2018, November 8, 2018, December 11, 2018, and January 8, 2019 for the purpose of hearing public comment on the DEIS.
During the public comment period, which was open from September 13, 2018 through January 23, 2019, no less than 15 days following the close of the public hearing, written comments were received from the public, Village staff and consultants, and other Involved and Interested Agencies.
The DEIS is hereby incorporated by reference into this Final EIS (FEIS). Any terms relating to the Proposed Action described in the DEIS are also used in this FEIS.
PURPOSE OF THE FEIS
This document is an FEIS, which has been prepared pursuant to the requirements of SEQRA. The purpose of this FEIS is to provide the Lead Agency’s responses to the substantive public comments (both written and verbal) made on the DEIS during the public hearings and formal comment period. SEQRA allows an applicant to modify a project in response to public comment on the DEIS as long as any potential environmental impacts of those modifications are described and analyzed in the FEIS.
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Consistent with SEQRA regulations at 617.9(b)(8), the Applicant has modified the Proposed
Project and the Proposed Zoning described in the DEIS. The modifications are referred to herein as the “Revised Proposed Project” and “Revised Proposed Zoning,” respectively—collectively, the “Revised Proposed Action.” As discussed in Chapter 1, “Revised Proposed Project,” the
significant modifications to the original project include the following:
• Raising the age restriction for residents of the Proposed Project from 55 years old and older to 62 years old and older, consistent with the existing Site zoning;
• Reducing the proposed gross square feet (gsf) of the Proposed Project by 68,818 square feet (sf), a 15.5 percent reduction in size, through:
- Reducing the number of proposed Independent Living (IL) units by 5 percent from 160 to 152;
- Reducing the average IL unit size by 150 sf, or 12 percent;
- Reducing the number of two- and three-bedroom IL units and increasing the number of one-bedroom IL units, thereby reducing the total number of bedrooms in the IL building by 24 percent;
- Reducing the size of the amenity and common spaces in the IL and AL building; and,
- Reducing the number of townhouse units by 16.7 percent from 24 units to 20 units.
• Increasing the setback of the IL building from Arbor Drive and from The Arbors;
• Reducing the height of the IL roof closest to The Arbors to reduce the potential for visual impacts;
• Increasing the setback of the townhouses from The Arbors;
• Reconfiguring the interior layout of the proposed age-restricted townhouses to more clearly meet the needs of the target population and to differentiate the product from other Village townhouses;
• Reducing the amount of grading required during construction of the Revised Proposed Project as well as significantly reducing the amount of fill material required to be imported to the Site by lowering the elevation of the finished floor of the IL and AL building by 18-inches and by reconfiguring the layout and reducing the number of townhouses; and,
• Expanding the on-Site pedestrian path system and providing an enhanced landscape program, most notably along Arbor Drive.
FEIS STRUCTURE
The organization of the FEIS is as follows:
• Volume 1. Volume 1 contains the FEIS Chapters and Figures.
- Chapter 1, “Revised Proposed Project.” This chapter summarizes the modifications to the original project as described in the DEIS.
- Chapter 2, “Environmental Analysis.” This chapter contains an analysis of potential environmental impacts associated with the Project modifications describe in Chapter 1, “Revised Proposed Project.” This chapter is subdivided into the substantive environmental categories identified in the DEIS and is numbered in accordance with the corresponding DEIS chapter number.
- Chapter 3, “Response to Comments.” This chapter provides responses to substantive comments on the DEIS received during the public comment period. As with Chapter 2, “Environmental Analysis,” this chapter is subdivided into the substantive environmental
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categories identified in the DEIS and is numbered in accordance with the corresponding
DEIS chapter number.
• Volume 2. Volume 2 contains the FEIS appendices, which include technical reports and correspondence.
• Volume 3. Volume 3 of this FEIS contains copies of the transcripts of the four public hearings as well as copies of all written comments provided.
• Volume 4. Volume 4 contains the architectural and engineering plans for the Revised Proposed Project.