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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025_08_25 Coastal Zone Management Commission Minutes Town of Mamaroneck - Village of Larchmont Coastal Zone Management Commission Town Center: 740 West Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, NY 10543-3353 Tel: 914-381-7845 Fax: 914-381-8473 conservationdept@townofmamaroneckny.org CZMC Minutes Monday, August 25, 2025 1. Roll Call and Introductions The meeting was called to order at 7:35pm. CZMC Members: Dr. C. Alan Mason, Chairman Matthew Teitsch Colin Barrett Tara Anderson Others Present: Elizabeth Aitchison, Environmental Planner, Town of Mamaroneck John M. Knoetgen, Architect, 7 Evergreen Lane Nicholas Shirriah, Consulting Engineer, 7 Evergreen Lane Pierre Sarrazin, Architect, 398 Weaver Street Bill Kenny, Landscape Architect, 398 Weaver Street Shea Graham, Consulting Engineer, 398 Weaver Street Grant Whittington, Propel NY Energy Kathleen Marean, Propel NY Energy Katie Axa, Propel NY Energy Edward J. Birdie, NY Power Authority Susan Craig, Mamaroneck Resident for Propel Project 2. Approval of Minutes 2.1. Approval of Minutes - June 23, 2025 Approval of the minutes tabled until September. 3. Referrals 3.1. 7 Evergreen Lane - Residential Site Plan and Tree Removal Permit Applications for the construction of a new single family house. John Knoetgen, Architect and Nicholas Shirriah, Engineer presented the proposal to construct a new single-family house at 7 Evergreen Lane. The original 3-story house burned down and a new single-story house will be built in the same location. The wetlands and watercourse on the property were flagged by a wetlands consultant. Part of the watercourse is piped underground and daylights in a large detention area with a controlled outlet structure. This detention system was believed to have been installed when the Fenbrook subdivision was constructed. Because the proposed construction will disturb less than 10% of the total wetlands buffer on the property, the application was deemed to be exempt from requiring a wetlands permit from the Planning Board. However, all construction will be as far from the existing watercourse and stormwater detention area as possible and erosion and sediment control measures will be used to protect the wetlands throughout construction. The total amount of impervious surface on site will decrease slightly from existing conditions from 18,308 square feet (sqft) to 17,907 sqft. Stormwater from the site will be captured and treated by catch basins and two banks of infiltrators, where sediment, leaves and debris will be captured before overflowing to the wetlands in the Page 1 of 4 Coastal Zone Management Commission August 25, 2025 existing stormwater detention area. Three trees will be removed and replaced with 11 Canadian Hemlock trees, a Coral Bark Maple, a River Birch and 6 Holly trees, a total of 19 new trees. The landscape plans also include a variety of shrubs and perennials to be planted around the foundation. Based on this information, CZMC found the proposed action to be consistent with the policies in the LWRP. 3.2. 398 Weaver Street - Residential Site Plan, Wetlands and Watercourses Permit and Tree Removal Permit Applications for the construction of a new single family house. Pierre Sarrazin, Architect, Shea Graham, Engineer, and Bill Kenny, Landscape Architect and Wetlands Specialist, presented the proposal to construct a new single- family house at 398 Weaver Street. The proposed house will be located in an AE flood zone, adjacent to the Sheldrake river, requiring FEMA compliance and a Wetlands and Watercourses permit from the Planning Board. In response to comments from the planning board, the applicant has reduced the amount of impervious surface, relocated the curb cut to a better location on Forest Avenue, and changed the grading to minimize impact to a 24-inch London Plane Tree. The new house will be zoning compliant. To be FEMA-compliant, habitable space will be constructed 4-feet above the base flood elevation. In addition, to maintain flood storage capacity, a crawl space with flood vents will allow for flood water to enter the crawl space during floods and will flow back out when water levels recede. The remainder of the house will be on a slab-on-grade foundation. The applicant's team discussed tree removal, tree protection and landscaping. They had an arborist evaluate the trees a year ago and will have the trees evaluated again to determine if the two Norway Maples or the Red Maple can be saved in addition to the London Plane Tree. The engineer will modify the plans to show tree protection fencing surrounding the critical root zone. Mr. Kenny discussed the environmental benefit of moving the driveway as far from the Sheldrake river as possible. They propose planting the buffer area with native shrubs and perennials and planting as many replacement trees as will fit on the site. Mr. Graham discussed the stormwater management system, which includes a Cultec system and will capture and treat the runoff from the house and driveway. There will be a decrease in the amount of impervious surface area on the property as well as a decrease in the peak rate of runoff as compared to the current conditions. CZMC found the proposed action to be consistent with the policies in the LWRP. Efforts should be made to protect as many trees as possible during construction. In addition, the foundation of the house should be designed and constructed to prevent undermining during inevitable flood events. 3.3. Propel NY Energy - Local Consistency Review Kathleen Marean, Katie Axt, Grant Whittington and Ed Birdie returned to CZMC to continue the discussion of the PropelNY proposal. Part of their project involves installing 4 submarine power transmission lines in trenches across the Long Island Sound between New Rochelle and Hempstead Harbor in Long Island (a distance of 9 miles). Several cables managed by the NY Power Authority already cross the Long Island Sound. PropelNY, is part of a larger, regional project to update the power distribution system and provide more stability, capacity and redundancy to the State’s power system. Within our LWRP jurisdiction, the cables will traverse the bottom of the Sound for 2.6 miles. Approving agencies include but are not limited to NYSDEC, NYSDOS and US ACOE. The NYSDOS has referred this application to CZMC for Page 2 of 4 Coastal Zone Management Commission August 25, 2025 local consistency review. Previously, Propel NY completed sampling of the benthos and sediments along the proposed route to determine what species are in this area and what the physical and chemical composition of the sediment is. They also performed an analysis to identify any historic and archaeological resources, including shipwrecks, that may be submerged in the project area. The study revealed that the sediment is clean and nothing of significance was found that would cause a deviation of the route through our jurisdiction. At this time, Propel NY is going through the permitting process which includes negotiating the conditions of their Article 7 certificate to be issued by the NYS public service commission. Once they receive this certificate, they will be developing their environmental management and construction plans. To summarize the procedure for installation of the submarine cables, a jet plow will be used to create a trench, fluidizing the sediment as it moves along the route. A cable is laid to a depth of 6 feet (the cables need to be located deep enough to be protected from damage and to provide sufficient insulation for the cables), and the sediments settle back into the trench as the operation moves across the Long Island Sound. Four trenches and cables will be installed in this manner, and the installation of the cables (in our LWRP area) is expected to take approximately one day to complete. The crossing from Long Island to New Rochelle will be completed in one to three days. Modeling was conducted to predict how the sediments will behave during the installation process. The project team calculated the size of the sediment plume, including sediment resuspension and spread, and they know the duration of time the plume will be present. Methods for minimizing sediment resuspension were developed. What they determined is when plough goes through, the sediment is fluidized, the plume is narrow, localized and stays at bottom of trench. This indicates that they can meet the water quality standards stated in Article 7 Conditions and federal permit. The modeling will be verified in the field with a series of trenching trials. During installation, they can use "adaptive management" techniques to minimize resuspension and turbidity along the route. For example, they can slow the speed of the plough or change other parameters to reduce turbidity as needed. In addition to oversight by NYSDEC, a third-party environmental Monitor will be required to be present during installation and post installation monitoring will be conducted to ensure that any impacts are mitigated. CZMC asked about the use of lead sheathing inside the cables and has concerns about the safety of this. The PropelNY team explained that the lead inner lining is completely internal and will never be exposed to the environment. These cables are different from the Y-49 cables and does not contain petroleum to provide liquid cooling, which leaked when an anchor snagged the line. A new notification system has been installed since that incident to alert passing ships to the presence of cables via their navigation systems. To help guarantee the safety and security of the cables, there will be a system installed that will monitor the cables within the seabed. Any disruption, erosion or change in temperature will notify the operator. For example, if an anchor should snag the line, the system will shut down until repairs are made. Many stakeholders have been involved with the planning process and include the Long Island Sound Study. They are proposing to complete the installation of the cables in the spring. CZMC suggested that the work be completed before boating season. CZMC recommended that the local yacht clubs be notified of the project and added to the list of stakeholders: Larchmont Yacht Club https://www.larchmontyc.org/ Horseshoe Harbor Yacht Club https://www.horseshoeharbor.org/ Larchmont Shore Club https://larchmontshoreclub.org/ Page 3 of 4 Coastal Zone Management Commission August 25, 2025 Based on the information available at this time, CZMC finds the proposed action to be consistent with the LWRP. 4. Old Business 4.1. LWRP Update Elizabeth Aitchison reported that Comments were finally received from NYSDOS on the Draft of the LWRP sent to them in 2018. The comments were substantial with regards to the format of the draft document. CZMC will continue discussion of this in the future. 5. New Business No New Business to discuss. 6. Next Meeting The next CZMC meeting will be held on September 29, 2025 at 7:30pm in Conference Room D. Page 4 of 4