In hopes of strengthening the town’s legal position should it be brought to court over the proposed Anderson Mill project, Rochester Town Board members last week detailed their reasoning Thursday evening behind their findings from the project’s environmental impact review.

At Thursday’s business meeting, the board drafted explanations into the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) form that assesses how incorporating The Granary, a proposed multi-use community center, into the town’s Economic Enterprise Overlay zoning district could affect the surrounding environment.

As part of the enterprise zone, the project proposed by New York-based hospitality company The Oberon Group, would be exempt from certain taxes and regulations.

The purpose behind including the explanations in the assessment form, Town Supervisor Mike Baden said, was to clarify the board’s reasoning for its findings. The added commentary largely concerns questions on the form where the board answered that including the project in the overlay district would have “no or little [environmental] impact.”

“We all know why we checked no, but if this does go to court, the judge reading it doesn’t know the Town of Rochester,” he said. “If we are faced with a court challenge, having it … is not only extremely helpful, it will make or break the case, because the judge can’t read our minds.”

Oberon Group CEO Henry Rich, along with his partners Renn Hawkey and actress Vera Farmiga, bought the former Anderson Feed Mill and Supply Complex in 2020 with plans to transform it into a community hub that would include a restaurant, a coworking space, a beer garden, a community center and a 12-18 room hotel. The expansive project met both favor and opposition from Accord residents at a public hearing in May. Some, recalling the days of the Anderson Mill’s operation, said they hope to see the project revitalize Accord’s economy and community. Others said they fear the hub would damage the hamlet’s rural character of the hamlet.

Many of the board’s justifications for checking the “no” box on certain potential environmental impacts stem from the proposed project’s existing structures. Because the mill has stood for decades, the board concluded that most renovations would have little impact on plants or animals and cause only small disturbances to the earth and air quality. Limited construction would result in intermittent but temporary noise; Oberon’s site plan includes mitigation measures, including the installation of a sound limiter. Any amplified noise would be cut off at 11 p.m. on weekends and 10 p.m. on weekdays.

On Thursday evening, the board voted to adopt Part 2 of the environmental assessment form with the added explanations. The board will review Part 3 of the form at its Sept. 14 meeting and then make a negative (no impact) or positive (yes impact) SEQR determination on the Granary project as a whole.