The State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) may be changed substantially if the Governor gets her way with this current budget cycle. She says the act must be changed to increase housing supply in the state, but environmental organizations — including WLC — are concerned the proposed changes are too vague and remove key decision-making power from local municipalities. The May 8 issue of The Overlook News summarized the current situation.

“Under the agreement as described by Hochul’s office, qualifying housing projects would be exempt from SEQRA review if they meet certain criteria: up to 300 units in urbanized areas, up to 100 units in non-urban areas, and up to 20 units in areas without zoning,” the article explained.

“The budget changes now leave local officials, planning boards, developers and environmental groups sorting through the same central question: whether faster review will help communities build the homes they need, or whether it will leave residents with less power to understand what is being built around them.”

WLC Executive Director Andy Mossey, who was interviewed in the article, is particularly concerned that the proposed changes may impact the Zena Development LLC proposal currently before the Town of Ulster Planning Board.

“Woodstock is short of adequate housing, said Andy Mossey, the executive director of the Woodstock Land Conservancy, and Hochul is right to try to help developers move projects forward more quickly. But Mossey said the proposal is ‘troubling in its vagueness,’ particularly around what qualifies as land that has already been built on or altered.

Mossey said he is unsure whether the changes would affect Zena Homes, a housing proposal near Eastwoods Drive in Woodstock that has drawn concern from neighbors and environmental advocates. He said the project is being proposed in an area of “pristine forest” with extensive wetlands nearby.

The Town of Ulster Planning Board is expected to issue a SEQRA declaration on the Zena Homes proposal May 12, said Mossey. The Woodstock Land Conservancy has urged the board to issue a positive declaration, which would require a deeper environmental review.

Mossey said state wetland protections would still apply separately from SEQRA, and that the proposed budget changes wouldn’t directly remove those protections. His broader concern is that weakening SEQRA would limit the ability of communities and environmental advocates to make a case for the land before decisions are made.”

The full article is available here.