Public Scoping Meeting Disposition of the Greater Hartford Campus - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

August 12, 2014

Public Scoping Meeting

Disposition of the Greater Hartford Campus

Presented by: Jason Coite, P.E. Environmental Compliance Manager University of Connecticut David Murphy, P.E., CFM Senior Project Manager Milone & MacBroom, Inc.

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• Provide background information on the Connecticut Environmental

Policy Act (CEPA) and the project

• Present the project scope and objectives
• Describe the local, regional, and state plans and the environmental

conditions that will frame the evaluation under CEPA

• Provide information relative to the overall schedule and future

efforts of the project

• Provide a forum for gathering input
• Understand the areas of public interest and identify questions to be

answered

Purpose of Scoping Meeting

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• 1. A State act that applies to certain publicly funded projects.
• 2. A process of evaluating environmental impacts through an

Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE) such that they can be avoided, minimized, and mitigated.

• 3. Provides a mechanism for early planning and coordination

among interested parties, including the public at large.

What is CEPA?

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• Define Project Purpose and Need
• Evaluate Alternatives
• Define Affected Environment and Existing Local, Regional, and

State Plans

• Evaluate Potential Impacts
• Identify Mitigation for Unavoidable Impacts
• Incorporate Public Input

CEPA Components

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• Cease operations at the campus located in West Hartford
• Allow for reuse or redevelopment by an entity other than

UConn

• Relocation of the campus operations to the downtown

Hartford site is not part of the project; this has been addressed separately

Project Purpose and Need

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• Area is 58 acres
• Harleigh B. Tracker Library
• School of Social Work
• Undergraduate building
• Information Technology Center
• Facilities Operations building
• Parking for 1,050 vehicles
• Ball fields leased by the Town for Little League, etc.
• Serves approximately 1,400 undergraduate and 1,520 full- and part-time

graduate students

• Approximately 410 faculty and other affiliated or non-affiliated staff

Description of Existing Site and Facilities

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• 1. Demolition of campus improvements
• 2. Stabilizing and securing campus buildings and grounds

(“mothballing”)

• 3. Reuse by an institute of higher education
• 4. Reuse and/or redevelopment by a state agency or

municipality

• 5. Redevelopment for commercial and/or residential use
• 6. No action (remains an active UConn campus)

Alternatives to Evaluate

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Source: UConn

Impact Analysis

Physical

• Air

Air Q Quali lity

• Noise &

& Light

• Traffic, P

Parking & & Circula lation

• Public

lic U Utili ilitie ies

• Potable W

Water er Suppl pply

• Stormwat

ater D r Drai rainage

• Solid &

& Hazardo dous Waste

• Aest

sthet etic ic R Resources es

• Cu

Cultural Re Resources

Natural

• Geology, T

Topograp raphy & y & Soils ils

• Surface Water

er R Res esources

• Grou
• undwater R

Resou

• urces
• Floodpla

plain ins

• Wetla

lands

• Fisheries
• Pla

lants & & Wild ildlife/ S State Lis isted S Spec pecies

• Specimen Tr

Trees

Socioeconomic

• Land Use &

e & Zonin ing

• St

State, L Loca cal & & Ca Camp mpus Master P Pla lanning

• Open

pen S Spa pace e & Farmla land

• Public

lic H Healt lth & & Safety

• Economy, E

Employm yment & Income

• Envir

ironmen ental J l Justic ice

• Communit

ity Facilit lities & ies & Service ces

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Existing Local, Regional, and State Plans

State Conservation and Development Policies Plan 2013-2018

• Entire site is within

Priority Funding Area (PFA)

• Conservation Areas

are associated with wetlands and flood zones

• Balanced PFAs are

mapped where they

• verlap

GIS files provided by CT OPM

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Existing Local, Regional, and State Plans

Capital Region Council of Governments Regional Plan, 2009

• “Higher Intensity Development Area”

Image courtesy of CRCOG Regional Plan

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Existing Local, Regional, and State Plans

West Hartford Plan of Conservation and Development, 2009-2019

• Consider socioeconomic

linkages with the Bishop's Corner neighborhood

• Consider linkages to

surrounding residential areas and recreational resources

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Affected Environment

Floodplains and Floodway

• Flood risk zones mainly

associated with tributaries

• f Trout Brook
• Stream is partly contained

in culverts

GIS files provided by FEMA

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Affected Environment

Wetlands and Wildlife

GIS files provided by CT DEEP

• Wetlands present
• Threatened and endangered species

are not listed for the site or vicinity

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Affected Environment

Hazardous Building Materials, Waste, and Other Hazardous Materials

• Asbestos containing building

materials

• Other materials and fluids

presently or formerly on site:

• Diesel oil
• Elevator hydraulic oil
• Gasoline tanks (removed)
• Fuel oil tanks (removed)

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• Appropriately remove and dispose of hazardous materials

and hazardous building materials that may be found

• Avoid direct impacts to wetlands
• Avoid filling or development in floodplains
• Support local plans for West Hartford and the Bishop’s

Corner neighborhood

• Provide mitigation for adverse traffic impacts
• Avoid overburdening town services

Potential Mitigation for Impacts

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Next Steps

• Review public and State Agency comments received tonight

and before the deadline of August 17, 2014

• Determine one of the following:
• Proceed to EIE per CEPA
• EIE not necessary per CEPA
• Postpone determination to a later date
• Subsequent steps to be determined based on identification
• f a preferred alternative

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Comments & Questions

• Comments and questions regarding the project

and/or the CEPA process may be directed to:

Jason Coite, P.E. Environmental Compliance Manager University of Connecticut 31 LeDoyt Road Storrs, CT Phone: 860-486-9305 Fax: 860-486-5477 E-Mail: jason.coite@uconn.edu

• Deadline for Written Comments is August 17, 2014
• Verbal comments are welcome tonight

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UConn Websites

UConn Office of Environmental Policy http://www.envpolicy.uconn.edu/eie.html UConn Planning, Architecture and Engineering Services http://paes.uconn.edu/GHCDisposition.html