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Planning board approves 55 Meadowbrook Road addition; counsel says SEQR classifies it as Type II
Summary
The Planning Board approved a site plan amendment for an addition at 55 Meadowbrook Road on April 15, concluding the project is a Type II action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and requires no further SEQR environmental review; approval includes conditions from staff and the conservation board.
The White Plains Planning Board on April 15 approved a site plan amendment to allow an addition to a house at 55 Meadowbrook Road, after associate counsel advised the board the application qualifies as a Type II action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and therefore requires no further SEQR environmental review.
Mike Kelly, associate counsel to the board, told members that under state SEQR guidance the expansion of a single‑family home on an environmentally sensitive site is a Type II action and “for purposes of State Environmental Quality Review Act, this is a type 2 action, for which, no further environmental review is required.” He also noted that other provisions of the White Plains zoning ordinance for environmentally sensitive sites still apply and that a public hearing was required and was held.
The property owners, Jenny and Min Zen, appeared and described the addition and said the stream adjacent to the house is city‑owned, which triggers the city’s environmentally sensitive‑site rules. Board members said they had no substantive objections and noted conservation board comments were largely innocuous. The board opened and closed the public hearing and then voted to approve the project subject to the conditions listed in the approval resolution distributed to the board.
Why it matters: the board’s SEQR classification means no additional city‑level environmental review under SEQR for this expansion, but the project remains subject to the city’s environmentally sensitive site controls and the conditions the board placed in the approval resolution.
Next steps: staff will draft an approval resolution that incorporates the conditions discussed at the meeting; the applicants proceed with permit applications consistent with that resolution.
