Public Hearing: Help protect a sacred Hudson River site in Troy

When:

December 29, 2020: 6:00PM to 8:00PM

Where:

Online

The City of Troy is considering a zoning change to allow for the development of apartments on a sacred site of the Mahican people, the indigenous first inhabitants of the region. The site sits along the Hudson River in the last patch of untouched forest on Troy’s waterfront.

Photo: Sarah Pezdek

The “Second Avenue” project at 1101 2nd Avenue has been proposed for a Hudson River wooded waterfront property of approximately 11 acres, including 10 acres in Troy and one acre in the neighboring Town of Schaghticoke. The developer envisions building three multi-unit buildings that are 3-4 stories high, totaling approximately 240 housing units. To allow for that kind of high-density development, the city would need to approve a zoning amendment for the parcel. The City Council has asked the Planning Commission to make a recommendation about the proposed rezoning of the parcel and a public hearing has been scheduled one week from today.

If you live in the City of Troy, please submit comments and attend the remote public hearing of Troy’s Planning Commission.

When: Tuesday, December 29 at 6 p.m.
Where: Online (Video conference link will be posted here prior to meeting)

You may submit comments by email to [email protected] up to one hour before the meeting or attend the video conference of the meeting by following the link on the Commission’s web page. Please tell the Planning Commission:

• We respect Troy’s need for economic development but the city must prioritize its role as a steward of a site of unique importance to the Mahican people. The site may be 5,000 years old and has been recognized as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Its preservation must be the city’s highest priority.
• Rezoning the property would be inconsistent with Troy’s 2018 Realize Troy Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan was an expression of the community’s vision for the city, and the community did not envision dense multi-unit housing on Troy’s northern waterfront, as Scenic Hudson had made plain to the City Council when the Council referred the matter to the Planning Commission. The City should respect the vision expressed by the community. At a minimum, the City is required to amend its Comprehensive Plan if it intends to change the zoning in a way that is contrary to the plan.
• Troy must follow the law. For a project of this size, rezoning can not be considered separately from the proposed development itself. As required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), when a developer with a project of this size requests to rezone a property, the rezoning is a reviewable action under SEQRA. The developer must also identify the zoning change it needs as part of the project’s Environmental Assessment Form (EAF). It is critical that all anticipated decisions are identified from the start in the EAF so that the potential environmental impacts associated with them can be considered together. Because this zoning change would also require a Comprehensive Plan amendment, that too must be identified in the EAF. To consider these decisions separately would be “segmentation,” contrary to the intent of SEQRA.

In this case, it is clear that all three actions — a Comprehensive Plan amendment, rezoning and the proposed development itself — would result in adverse environmental impacts to the community and the Hudson River. The Planning Commission has already identified that rezoning for this project was a Type 1 Action under SEQRA, requiring a coordinated review by a designated lead agency. The Commission should recommend against rezoning the property as being premature until the developer has submitted an EAF and the City has made a SEQRA determination.

For more information on the upcoming public hearing and to learn more about this proposal, visit: friendsofthemahicantuck.org.