NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 14, 2023) — A site in New Rochelle, Westchester County, that was formerly used for New Rochelle Police Department headquarters, a saloon, a wagon manufacturer, a dry cleaner and other businesses has applied to the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program, a voluntary program that provides incentives and oversight for cleaning up and reusing contaminated properties.
The site, known as J&L Cleaners Lawton Street Site, is located at 35 and 39 Lawton Street in the downtown area of the city. The site is contaminated with petroleum, solvents and metals in soil and groundwater.
Serenity Marina LLC Brownfield Cleanup Program Application
The site owner, Serenity Marina LLC, has submitted a brownfield cleanup application and draft work plans to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which will review them and determine whether to approve them. The work plans outline the scope and methods of investigating and addressing the contamination at the site.
The owner plans to redevelop the site as 11 Lawton Street, a mixed-use project that will include 615 residential unit building with 14,613 square feet of retail space. There will be 146 municipal parking spaces to replace the current number of City of New Rochelle public parking spaces, 615 residential parking spaces and 243 office parking spaces to accommodate the project. As a result, there will be two levels of basement parking. Approximately 10% of the units will be affordable to persons in the 70% AMI bracket. The project will also include a 24-story hotel with 190 rooms that will adaptively reuse the historic National City Bank building at the corner of Main and Lawton Streets.
According to the work plan, a Remedial Investigation, which will assess the nature and extent of the contamination, is expected to be completed on the site by September-October 2023. The work plan states that there are no significant site preparation activities required on this site since there are no buildings to demolish.
The Remedial Action Work Plan, which will outline the proposed cleanup methods and objectives, will be completed in November-December 2023, and any required remediation may commence in the fall or early winter of 2023. The work plan estimates that the remediation will take about six months to complete.
The developer will then apply for a Certificate of Completion, which will certify that the cleanup has met the state standards and will provide liability protection and tax credits for the developer. The work plan anticipates that the certificate will be issued in early to mid 2024.
The owner may be eligible for tax credits and liability relief under the Brownfield Cleanup Program, which aims to revitalize economically blighted communities by encouraging private-sector cleanups of brownfields.
The public can access the application and the draft work plans online through the DECinfo Locator or at the New Rochelle Public Library. The public can also submit written comments to the DEC project manager by June 2, 2023.
Past Use of the Site
The Site historical uses included a hotel, justice offices, a fire engine company, and lumber storage from 1887 to 1892. In 1892, the Site was improved with a carriage maker near the northwestern portion of the Site and a florist on the northeastern portion of the Site. By 1896, the hotel became vacant, and a saloon was located on the southwestern portion of the Site. By 1903, the former hotel became a plumber facility, and the former lumber storage area was being used for wagon storage. In 1911, the former saloon became the Lawton Cafe, the plumbing company became retail stores, and a new structure labeled as Livery and was located to the east. The fire engine company portion of the Site became a storage area and the former carriage maker was labeled as Wood Work Wagon manufacturing and Painting. The florist was no longer depicted at this time. In 1931, the wagon maker and painter are labeled as a Machine & Repair Shop. The structures labeled Storage and Stores have been razed and a new larger building was depicted but not labeled on relevant historic maps. By 1942, the new building is labeled as Police Headquarters and no other structures are labeled. In 1951, a gas tank is depicted east of the Police Headquarters on the Site. From 1990 to 2003, the Site was depicted as a Parking Lot on relevant maps. Additionally, the City Directory lists J&L Tailor and Cleaners in 1964, the Kenwood Laboratories in the 1970s, and furniture sales thereafter as part of historical operations. The historical owners and uses associated with the Site are further described below and in Exhibit F, Previous Owners and Operators List.
The causes for the various types of Site contaminants could have originated from a variety of these former uses, but the most obvious are the presence of former underground storage tanks (USTs), the machine and repair shop history and the dry cleaning history. The Site-wide metals contamination is most likely related to the plumber, a lumber yard or wagon repair historic uses.
The elevated lead contamination is most likely the result of the carriage maker, wagon maker and paint facility. Since the PAH levels are higher than typical historic fill material, this type of contamination is most likely the result of the historic uses of the Site that included repair garages.
PFAS groundwater contamination may be a result of the Site’s historic use as a fire engine company. The chlorinated solvents in soil vapor are likely the result of the USTs, the repair facilities and the dry cleaning operation as well as the hotel, which may have had a dry cleaning operation.
For more information about the Brownfield Cleanup Program, visit www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8450.html.
Source: Conversation with Bing, 5/14/2023
(1) . https://bing.com/search?q=J%26L+Cleaners+Lawton+Street+Site.
(2) J & L Cleaners. https://www.jandlcleaners.com/.
(3) ENB Region 3 Notices 5/3/2023 – NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation. https://www.dec.ny.gov/enb/20230503_not3.html.
(4) Serenity Marina LLC Brownfield Cleanup Program Application. https://www.dec.ny.gov/data/DecDocs/C360238/Application.BCP.C360238.2023-02-17.Complete%20BCP%20Application.pdf.
(2) 11 Lawton Street – Ideally Yours | New Rochelle NY. https://www.ideallynewrochelle.com/grow-here/development-map/11-lawton-street/.
(3) First Renderings Revealed for the Massive Two-Tower … – New York YIMBY. https://newyorkyimby.com/2019/08/first-look-at-two-tower-development-at-11-lawton-street-in-new-rochelle.html.
(4) City Officials Approves Major Mixed-Use Development at 11 Lawton Street …. https://newyorkyimby.com/2019/10/city-officials-approves-major-mixed-use-development-in-downtown-new-rochelle.html.