MONTICELLO/THOMPSON — The Rosewood Development project is an approximately 292-acre residential and mixed-use development planned to border the Village of Monticello and the Town of Thompson. On Wednesday night, the project moved another step forward as the Village of Monticello Board approved a scoping document that will guide the project’s upcoming environmental review.

The large-scale private development is classified as a Type I action under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and will require the preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

According to Village Attorney Michael Sussman, the scoping document establishes the areas that will be studied as part of the environmental review.

“It doesn’t necessarily [explain] how it [the environment] will be studied but what will be studied,” Sussman explained.

The document was developed following a review involving the village’s planning consultants and the Rosewood development team.

Speaking before the board, Village Planner Thomas DeVaney, AICP, said his team examined multiple versions of the proposed scope and felt the development team had sufficiently addressed the village’s concerns.

The initial document was received on July 28, with comments submitted to the development team on Aug. 5. Additional comments were submitted on Sept. 9 before a revised draft was provided.

Among the village’s concerns was the potential impact of phasing the project, as well as the effects of the project’s full buildout, particularly regarding traffic and water usage.

According to DeVaney, the study will also examine traffic levels of service at selected intersections and permitting requirements through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Additional areas identified for study include visual impacts, including a viewshed analysis examining current conditions and the potential appearance of the completed project.

Terrestrial and aquatic ecology, cultural resources and regulated wetlands will also be examined as part of the environmental review.

“We wanted to make sure that the impacts of the full buildout of the development were going to be included in the DEIS,” DeVaney stated, adding that this would be particularly important for areas such as water and traffic usage.

Following approval of the scoping document, the environmental review will move toward the preparation of the DEIS. Once submitted, the village and its consultants will review the document to determine whether it is complete.

If deemed complete, the DEIS will proceed to a public hearing and public comment period, with comments incorporated as the process moves toward a final Environmental Impact Statement.

Sussman also stressed that the village’s review would be substantive rather than merely procedural.

“We’re not interested in some sort of rubber stamp,” Sussman said, emphasizing the village’s goal of conducting an in-depth review of the proposal.

The board approved the scoping document following a motion by Deputy Mayor John Barbarite and a second by Trustee Theodore Hutchins, allowing the environmental review process to proceed toward preparation of the DEIS.