Final Environmental Impact Statement AvalonBay Harrison Town/Village of Harrison, Westchester County NY DRAFT LEAD AGENCY Harrison Planning Board One Heineman Place Harrison, NY 10528 914.670.3077 PREPARED BY VHB Engineering, Surveying, and Landscape Architecture, P.C. 50 Main Street Suite 360 White Plains, NY 10606 914.617.6600 August 2017 Avalon Bay Harrison Harrison, New York Final Environmental Impact Statement Project Location: Halstead Avenue & Harrison Avenue Harrison, NY Tax Map Designation: Parcels 0182.-12 and 0182.-15 Lead Agency: Town of Harrison Planning Board One Heineman Place Harrison, New York 10528 Contact: Thomas Heaslip, Planning Board Chairman SEQR Classification of Action: Type I Applicant: Avalon Bay Companies 1499 Post Road, 2nd Floor Fairfield, CT 06824 (203) 319-4900 Contact: Grant Jaber Date Submitted: _______________ Accepted for Distribution: _________ Public Hearing Date: _________ End of Public Comment Period:_________ DRAFT Lead Agency: Town of Harrison Planning Board One Heineman Place Harrison, New York 10528 Contact: Thomas Heaslip, Planning Board Chairman Applicant: Avalon Bay Communities 1499 Post Road, 2nd Floor Fairfield, CT 06824 (203) 319-4900 Contact: Grant Jaber Consultants that contributed to this document include: Project Attorney: DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr LLP One North Lexington Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 (914) 681-0200 Contact: Peter Wise, Esq. Planning/EIS Preparation Site Engineering/Traffic Engineering/Natural Resources/Cultural Resources: VHB Engineering, Surveying, and Landscape Architecture, P.C. 50 Main Street, Suite 360 White Plains, NY 10606 914/467-6600 Contacts: Valerie Monastra, AICP Site Engineering, Architecture, Landscape Design: Milone & MacBroome, Inc. 99 Realty Drive Cheshire, CT 06410 (203) 271-1773 Contact: Tom Sheil, LA Tom Daly, PE Perkins Eastman 422 Summer Street Stamford, CT 06901 (203) 251-7400 Contact: Meredith Taubin, RA DRAFT Street-Works Studio 181 Westchester Avenue Suite 302C Port Chester, NY 10573 (914) 914-7177 DRAFT Table of Contents INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT SUMMARY ................................................................... 1-1 State Environmental Quality Review .............................................................................. 1-1 Project History ........................................................................................................................ 1-2 Project Description ................................................................................................................ 1-2 INDEX OF COMMENTS AND RESPONSES ....................................................................... 2-1 COMMENTS AND RESPONSES ......................................................................................... 3-1 Project Description ................................................................................................................ 3-1 Land Use and Zoning ........................................................................................................ 3A-1 Visual Resources and Community Character ........................................................... 3B-1 Natural Resources .............................................................................................................. 3C-1 Geology, Soils, Topography, & Steep Slopes .......................................................... 3E-1 Fiscal Impact ......................................................................................................................... 3G-1 Community Services ........................................................................................................ 3H-1 Traffic and Transportation .................................................................................................3I-1 Stormwater Management ................................................................................................ 3J-1 Utilities ................................................................................................................................... 3K-1 Noise ........................................................................................................................................ 3L-1 Hazardous Materials ......................................................................................................... 3N-1 Construction ........................................................................................................................ 3O-1 Greenhouse Gases .............................................................................................................. 3P-1 Irretrievable Commitment of Resources ....................................................................... 6-1 Growth Inducing Impacts ................................................................................................... 7-1 Miscellaneous .......................................................................................................................... 8-1 i DRAFT APPENDICES A. Public Hearing #1- Transcript (1/9/17) Harrison Village/Town Hall, Harrison, NY Speakers: Thomas Heaslip, Planning Board Chairman Pat Cleary, Town/Village Planner, Harrison, NY Kate Barnwell, Planning Board member Anthony Spano, Planning Board member Mark Weingarten, Esq., Attorney, DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise and Wiederhehr Stuart Lachs, RA, Architect, Perkins Eastman Valerie Monastra, AICP, Planning Consultant, VHB John Canning, Traffic Engineer, VHB Marshall Donat, Planning Board member Mark Rinaldi, Planning Board member Nonie Reich, Planning Board member Grant Jaber, Applicant, Avalon Bay Communities Steven Kochis, PE, Site Engineer, Milone & MacBroom Jed Parker, Resident, 59 Stratford Road B. Letters and Written Comments Received on the DEIS Letter #1: Letter from Eileen Mildenbergerm, Acting Commissioner, Westchester County Planning Board (2/6/17) Letter #2: Memo from Pat Cleary, Harrison Town/Village Planner (2/8/17) Letter #3: Memo from Kate Barnwell, Harrison Planning Board (2/9/15) C. Harrison Parking Inventory and Survey ii DRAFT 1. Introduction and Description of Proposed Project A. State Environmental Quality Review This Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Article 8 of the NYS Conservation Law, the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), and its implementing regulations at 6 NYCRR Part 617 to respond to comments received regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Harrison Station Transit Oriented Development (the “Project”) The Lead Agency for review of the proposed Project pursuant to SEQRA is the Town/Village of Harrison Planning Board. The FEIS is organized as follows: This initial chapter of the FEIS includes a summary of the Project, including a timeline of the environmental review process. The second chapter of the FEIS contains the indices of comments and responses. The third chapter of the FEIS contains all substantive comments regarding the Project received at the DEIS public hearing and during the DEIS comment period, and a response to each comment. Comments have been organized by topic area. The Appendices include the public hearing transcripts, copies of all written comments received regarding the DEIS, as well as technical reports and data referenced in the responses. The accepted DEIS in its entirety is incorporated by reference into this FEIS. AvalonBay at Harrison 1-1 Introduction and Project Description FEIS 7/27/2017 DRAFT B. Project History The DEIS was prepared based on a scoping document that was adopted after a public scoping session. Chronology of the SEQRA review of the Project (to date) is as follows: 3/22/16 Lead Agency Declared/Positive Declaration Issued 3/22/16 Scoping document adopted 12/29/16 DEIS accepted as adequate and complete for public review 1/9/17 DEIS public hearing held 2/8/17 End of Public Comment Period on DEIS C. Project Description The Project is proposed to be developed on a 3.79-acre site in the southern portion of the Town/Village of Harrison, fronting on Halstead Avenue and adjacent to the Metro-North Railroad (MNR) Station. The site is designated on the Town/Village tax map as Section 18, Block 182, Lots 12 and 15 (the “Site”), and currently contains: 260 parking surface spaces within four parking lots on 2.50 acres of impervious asphalt; 1.05 acres of open space surrounded by the MNR right-of-way to the rear, parking lots on both sides, and Halstead Avenue to the front; and 0.24 acres of undeveloped land that acts as a landscaped buffer strip surrounding the parking lots. The Site is presently owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). In March, 2015, AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (the “Applicant”), MTA, MNR, and the Town/Village entered into a Joint Development Agreement (the “JDA”) pursuant to which the parties agreed to perform certain preliminary planning and other activities necessary to formulate the Project. The JDA provides that MTA, MNR and the Applicant will upon conclusion of the review of the Project under SEQRA and grant by the Town/Village of the necessary approvals, enter into a Land Disposition and Development Agreement for the sale of the Site to the Applicant, except the parcel on which the Commuter Parking Garage (as defined below) will be located, which will be retained by MTA. AvalonBay at Harrison 1-2 Introduction and Project Description FEIS 7/27/2017 DRAFT The mixed-use Project would contain 143 multi-family residential units divided between three multi- story