On February 25, 2008, Riverkeeper submitted comments on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for the Alexander Street Master Plan and Urban Renewal Area in Yonkers. The DGEIS and related documents set forth a development plan and evaluate the environmental impacts of redevelopment on Alexander Street in Yonkers. The Master Plan calls for a mixed-use development of approximately 4,000 residential units, 200,000 square feet of neighborhood retail and commercial space, new and enhanced public parkland, and is slated to include 18 skyscrapers with heights ranging from 12 to 30 stories.
Riverkeeper’s comments raised several important issues including (1) the inadequate public comment period for the DGEIS given the size and scope of the project, (2) the critical importance that all individual developments within the Urban Renewal Area fully implement “green building” techniques and consider sustainability in their design, (3) the importance of implementing stormwater management measures and infrastructure improvements sufficient to reduce adverse impacts on surface water quality resulting from combined sewer overflows (“CSOs”), and (4) the insufficient consideration by the DGEIS of the cumulative impacts of the multiple redevelopment projects which are currently ongoing or under review in the City of Yonkers.