Addendum Architectural Resources Survey
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Addendum Architectural Resources Survey Crown City Wind Energy Project Towns of Cortlandville, Homer, Solon and Truxton, Cortland County, New York Prepared for: AIR ENERGY TCI INC 485 McGill Street Suite 520 Montreal Quebec H2Y2H4 Canada Prepared by: edr Companies 217 Montgomery Street, Suite 1000 Syracuse, New York 13202 P: 315.471.0688 F: 315.471.1061 www.edrcompanies.com August 2012 Addendum Architectural Resources Survey MANAGEMENT SUMMARY SHPO Project Review Number: Involved State/Federal Agencies: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Public Service Commission Phase of Survey: Architectural survey of five-mile visual area of potential effect Location Information Minor Civil Division: Towns of Cortlandville, Homer, Solon, and Truxton County: Cortland 5-mile-radius Study Area Information: Minor Civil Division: Towns of Cortlandville (MCD 02302), Cuyler (MCD 02303), Freedom (MCD 02304), Homer (MCD 02306), Preble (MCD 02309), Solon (MCD 02310), Taylor (MCD 02312), Truxton (MCD 02313); Village of McGraw (MCD 02343); and City of Cortland (MCD 02340) Counties: Cortland Number of Proposed Turbines: 45 Survey Area (5-mile radius): Approximately 180 square miles USGS 7.5-Minute Quadrangles: Otisco Valley, Tully, Deruyter, Erieville, Homer, Truxton, Cuyler, South Otselic, Cortland, McGraw, Cincinnatus and Pitcher Results of Architectural Survey (includes 2008 architectural survey and 2012 addendum survey): Number of previously determined NRHP-listed/-eligible buildings/structures/cemeteries/districts in the project viewshed: 2 NRHP-Listed Historic Districts 9 NRHP-Listed (Individual) Properties 23 NRHP-Eligible (Individual) Properties Number of recommended potentially NRHP-eligible buildings/ structures/ cemeteries/districts in the project viewshed: 299 Individual Properties 3 Proposed Historic Districts (all in the City of Cortland) Archaeological Survey Overview (presented in separate report) Hanley, Robert J., Rebecca J. Emans, Mark A. Steinback, and Michael A. Cinquino 2012 Phase IA Cultural Resources Investigation for the Proposed Crown City Wind Farm Project, Towns of Cortlandville, Homer, Solon, and Truxton, Cortland County, New York. Panamerican Consultants, Inc., Buffalo Branch, Buffalo. Prepared for Air Energy TCI, Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Report Authors: Grant Johnson; Patrick Heaton, RPA Date of Report: July 2012 Crown City Wind Farm ii Addendum Architectural Resources Survey TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose of the Investigation ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Project Location and Description .................................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Historic Resources Study Area ..................................................................................................................... 2 2.0 SUPPLEMENTAL HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY .................................................................................... 3 2.1 Summary of Previously Conducted Historic-Architectural Resources Survey .............................................. 3 2.2 Historic Resources Survey Methods ............................................................................................................. 4 2.3 Definition and Significance Criteria for Historic Resources ........................................................................... 4 2.4 Supplemental Historic Resources Survey Results........................................................................................ 5 3.0 PROJECT EFFECTS ON HISTORIC RESOURCES ........................................................................................ 7 3.1 Potential Effect on Historic Resources ......................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Project Visibility Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 8 4.0 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................. 35 4.1 Summary of Historic Resources within the Study Area .............................................................................. 35 4.2 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 35 5.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 37 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Summary of Historic Resources located within the Study Area. ..................................................................... 6 Table 2. Potential Project Visibility from Historic Resources. ........................................................................................ 9 Table 3. Summary of Potential Project Visibility from Historic Resources Considering Topography Only. ................. 31 Table 4. Summary of Potential Project Visibility from Historic Resources Considering Topography and Vegetation. 32 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Regional Project Location Figure 2. Proposed Project Layout Figure 3. Historic Resources Survey Area Figure 4. Historic Resources Survey Results LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A. Addendum Annotated Property List Appendix B. Visual Simulations Crown City Wind Farm iii Addendum Architectural Resources Survey 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of the Investigation On behalf of Air Energy TCI Inc (TCI), edr Companies (edr) conducted a supplemental historic-architectural resources survey for the proposed Crown City Wind Farm (the Project), located in the Towns of Cortlandville, Homer, Solon, and Truxton, in Cortland County, New York. This addendum report is intended to supplement and update a previous cultural resources surveys conducted for an earlier (superseded) Project layout, which was prepared by PanAmerican Consultants, Inc. (PCI) in 2008-2009 (PCI, 2012a, 2012b). The purpose of this report is to identify and describe historic resources (primarily buildings, or architectural resources, greater than 50 years in age) located within the five-mile radius visual area of potential effect (APE) for the Project. The information included in this report is intended to assist the Cortland County Legislature, who is acting as the Lead Agency in the environmental review of the Project under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The potential environmental impacts of the proposed Project are considered in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS; edr, 2012a) being prepared pursuant to the requirements of SEQRA. This supplemental historic buildings survey identifies properties (or resources) that are listed in, or that satisfy the eligibility criteria for listing in, the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and evaluates the potential effect of the Project on those historic resources. The NRHP eligibility recommendations presented in this report are preliminary and should not be considered final determinations of NRHP eligibility. Final determinations would need to be made by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP), acting in their capacity as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The historic building survey of the five-mile APE study area was conducted in compliance with NYSOPRHP’s New York State Historic Preservation Office Guidelines for Wind Farm Development Cultural Resources Survey Work (the SHPO Wind Guidelines; NYSOPRHP, 2006), Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 14.09 of the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Law, and SEQRA. The supplemental historic resources survey was conducted by a qualified architectural historian. 1.2 Project Location and Description Air Energy TCI, Inc. (TCI, or the Project Sponsor), is proposing to develop a wind-powered generating facility in the Towns of Cortlandville, Homer, Solon, and Truxton, Cortland County, New York (Figure 1). The proposed Project is located on approximately 9,500 acres of leased private land (the Project site) located approximately 1.4 miles northwest of the hamlet of Solon, one mile north-northeast of the Village of McGraw, and four miles east of the City of Cortland (as measured to the nearest proposed turbine site). Crown City Wind Farm 1 Addendum Architectural Resources Survey The Project includes 45 wind turbines, which will deliver up to 72 MW of electrical power to the New York state grid. As presently envisioned, the Project will use the GE 1.6 - 100 wind turbine (or equivalent), each with a rated capacity of 1.6 MW. Each wind turbine consists of three major components: a tubular steel tower, nacelle, and a three-bladed upwind rotor. The height of the tower, or “hub height” (height from the base of the tower to the center of the rotor hub mounted on a nacelle at the top of tower) will be approximately 100 meters (328 feet). The rotor has a 100-meter (328-foot) diameter, and the total turbine height (i.e., height at the highest blade tip position) will be approximately 150 meters (or approximate 492 feet). The Project will also involve construction of approximately 19 miles of gravel access roads, approximately