Archaeology The Focus Of Carvel Talk

AMENIA — The Planning Board’s Jan. 24 discussion of the Carvel project’s proposed development centered around one issue: archaeological study.

Carvel, if approved, could add 951 homes to Pine Plains, almost doubling the size of the town. Since 2005,  the board’s consultants have been poring over the developer’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), a document required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and submitting comments to the board.

According to Nan Stolzenberg, town planner, the only DEIS chapters the consultants have to review are chapters 17 and 8. Chapters that still have "issues" are chapters 7 and 3.

"Some are very easy to rewrite and address and others aren’t," the planner said.Stolzenburg then gave the floor to Christopher Lindner, a Red Hook-based archaeological consultant. Carvel’s consultant’s criteria for testing areas of the parcel states that have sections within 100 feet of a body of water or a more than 12 percent slope must be tested.

"This is too restrictive," Lindner said. "Only about a quarter of the necessary testing was done, maybe less. The study is incomplete because reconnaissance testing has not been done."

The state of New York requires that 16 tests per acre must be conducted on a parcel that is possibly archaeologically significant; intense study calls for about 50 more tests per acre.

"Furthermore, many areas that deserved testing were not and many sections that didn’t require testing were," Lindner said only about four tests per acre were conducted, "rendering the study incomplete."

Carvel’s Karen Hartgen, president of   Hartgen Archaeological Consultants, said some of the development’s test pits found early historic ceramics.She, as well as others, assumed that nearby areas would also yield artifacts. They circled that area.This explains the deficiency in tests, she said.

"Based on my 34 years of experience, we had a historic site that didn’t need more holes in it," she said. "We can draw a circle around that site and outside of it until we get a double negative."

"It doesn’t make the testing less crucial. If you don’t know what’s there, how do you follow through?" Stolzenberg asked. "How do you know if it needs further study or if it’s avoidable?"

"I’m very skeptical that 80 percent of the area … could be ruled out," Lindner agreed. 

Archeological testing is partly composed of two sections; Phase 1B and Phase 2, the former being reconnaissance, the latter, site evaluation. Lindner said he hopes he and the Carvel team can decide on more realistic criteria for testing and suggested to the board that the Carvel team conduct both studies immediately. The Chazen Companies’ Director of Planning and Zoning  Dan Stone, as well as environmental planner Matthew Rudikoff, asked that the board defer the start of Phase 2 until after the DEIS is deemed complete, which would partially indicate that the project won’t harm the environment.  

"Yes. Phase 2 needs to be done, but it’s clearly subsequent to SEQRA," Stone said. "Phase 2 is usually done at a later stage," Rudikoff agreed.

"If we do that … the town isn’t taking a hard look at the environmental impacts," said Warren Replansky, town attorney.

"Does [Phase 2] happen when the bulldozers are coming in and the permits are issued?" Stolzenberg added.

"It’s pre-permit," Stone clarified.

As the hour grew late, the  board and Carvel’s representatives agreed to contact New York’s State Historic Preservation   Office (SHPO) to determine if Carvel should conduct Phase 2 before or after the DEIS is deemed complete, and what criteria should be used for testing.

"The ultimate decision is to be made by the board. You can ask for advice from SHPO, but ultimately, you make the decision," Replansky said.