Pocantico Lake Scoping Session Focuses on Key Environmental Issues

Close to 20 speakers urged the Mount Pleasant Planning Board last week to study a wide range of environmental concerns in its review of a 31-lot cluster subdivision proposed for the Pocantico Lake shoreline.

The board held a public scoping session under the state Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) last Monday for Meadows at Briarcliff Manor at 715 Sleepy Hollow Rd. ZappiCo Real Estate Development of Hawthorne is proposing the project for the 36.8-acre site.

Nearby residents and environmental advocates stressed how the potential for massive deforestation, potential degradation of the lake’s water, which flows into the Hudson River, along with noise and traffic, would mar one of the county’s most scenic locations.

Several speakers also noted that what has been submitted so far by the developer provides scant details on a multitude of environmental issues.

Old Sleepy Hollow Road resident David Mallett described the elimination of more than one million square feet of tree canopy as “astonishing.”

“It’s just not clear to me that the plans, the scope being discussed here tonight, specifically addresses the impact of 90 percent of the tree canopy being removed,” Mallett said.

Nancy Rogers Golodetz, who lives on Sleepy Hollow Road, called on the board to require the applicant to obtain a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because of the immense level of tree removal. The Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over all navigable waters and their tributaries, she said.

“Both Pocantico River and the Hudson are included on the navigable water list for New York State (and) with over a million square feet of deforestation of steep slopes, many steep slopes, this development would have the potential to permanently affect the Pocantico River and downstream at the Hudson,” Golodetz said.

Additionally, the traffic studies for the project must be significantly expanded, including the intersection of Sleepy Hollow Road and Long Hill Road and the Old Sleepy Hollow Road extension, she said.

If the project is approved, construction impacts must also be mitigated, Golodetz said. It is estimated construction would last two years, with work taking place six days a week, translating into 624 days of disruption, she said.

Incoming Riverkeeper President Tracy Brown said the review must focus on Pocantico Lake water quality.

“I want to make sure that it is acknowledged that the Pocantico River has been used as a drinking water reservoir in the past and there is a chance it can be put back into use in the future,” Brown said.

Kings Grant Way resident Charlie Sanders said the Mount Pleasant Planning Board in 1987 already rejected a development for this land because it was designated a Critical Environmental Area by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEC).

“This is not only a Critical Environmental Area but pretty much the same project has already been addressed by this board and its involvement is critically important,” Sanders said.

Others mentioned how the submission has deficiencies. Attorney Adam Stolorow, representing several neighboring residents, said the developer’s draft scope fails to comply with SEQRA because it doesn’t propose mitigation measures. He asked the board to reject the submitted scope.

“So they need to start by saying we’re not just going to look at land use but in land use here are the significant impacts that we’ll be looking at, here are the alternatives, here’s how we propose to mitigate them, not an insane level of detail, but what they provided is generic, it’s not specific to this project,” Stolorow said.

Planning Board Chairman Michael McLaughlin assured Stolorow all issues related to the plan will be addressed.

“It’s up to us that those things are covered and we’ll make sure,” McLaughlin said.

Speaker Jeffrey Anzevino, director of land use advocacy for the environmental organization Scenic Hudson, urged the board to factor in the “unmitigable” visual impact on the lake and the nearby county parkland.

He also pointed out that there should be additional alternatives submitted to the 31-lot cluster subdivision and that every single lot should be part of a conservation easement.

The hearing ended with brief Pfireworks when the final speaker, Collin Breen of Sleepy Hollow Road, demanded the board dig into the developer’s background.

“What about the integrity of the developer? When is that going to be addressed?” Breen asked of the board.

McLaughlin ended the meeting without addressing Breen’s questions.