Editor's note: This article previews a scheduled meeting based on the published agenda packet. After the meeting is held and video is released, coverage will be updated with the actual discussion and any votes taken. Two proposed local laws that would substantially rewrite how Croton's land-use boards review development applications are scheduled to come before the Waterfront Advisory Committee on Monday, August 25, when the panel will weigh whether each is consistent with the village's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. Both laws arise from the same source: amendments to the State Environmental Quality Review Act included in the 2026-2027 enacted state budget. Among the most consequential changes, the state created a new category of qualified actions that can exempt housing construction from SEQR entirely — projects of up to 100 units on previously disturbed sites connected to existing water and sewer, for example, would no longer trigger the environmental review process. Because SEQR has historically been the gateway for boards to study a project's impacts on traffic, wildlife, stormwater, community services, and scenic resources, village officials moved to ensure those review powers survive in the zoning code itself. Local Law Introductory No. 13 of 2026 targets Chapter 230, the village's Zoning Code. Prepared by planning consultant Valerie Monastra of Nelson Pope Voorhis, the draft adds 17 numbered review criteria to Section 230-70 — the section governing Planning Board review of site development plans. New criteria include evaluating impacts on public school capacity and other community services, with the Planning Board empowered to request fiscal and student-projection analyses. The law would also require applicants to submit a tree removal plan for any tree six inches in diameter or greater, referencing the village's existing Tree Protection Law. Other new criteria address threatened and endangered species, critical environmental areas, construction phasing and staging, and energy considerations. The board would also be required to apply the village's Complete Streets Policy when context-appropriate. Local Law Introductory No. 14 of 2026 would amend Chapter 225, Waterfront Revitalization, to clarify when and how the LWRP consistency review process applies — particularly in cases where an action is no longer subject to SEQR. The draft expands the definition of action to include not just SEQRA Type I and unlisted actions but also special permit applications and site plan approvals for projects with 5,280 square feet or more of habitable space. It also updates the referral process: the lead or authorizing agency must send the Coastal Assessment Form to the WAC within 10 days, and the WAC would have 30 days to render a written recommendation, with the ability to request an extension. The law makes clear that if the WAC does not respond within the specified time, the lead agency may proceed without its recommendation. Both local laws were referred to the WAC by Resolution 183-2026 and Resolution 184-2026, respectively, adopted 5-0 by the Board of Trustees on August 19. The trustees have declared themselves lead agency under SEQR for both proposals, classified them as unlisted actions, and also sent them to the Planning Board and, in the case of Local Law 13, the Westchester County Planning Board. The committee will also review a referral from the MTA Metro-North Railroad seeking an LWRP consistency determination for the Hudson Line Signal System Upgrade Project, which covers the corridor from Harmon to Poughkeepsie (mileposts 32 to 76). The packet includes a cover letter, a Coastal Assessment Form, LWRP policy responses, and 28 pages of civil site plans showing equipment installations along the tracks through Croton. The trustees referred this to the WAC via Resolution 179-2026 on August 19. Because the cover letter, CAF, and LWRP response documents are scanned and not text-searchable, their specific contents are not available for review outside the meeting. Finally, the committee will consider approval of the draft minutes from its July 8 meeting, at which members reviewed Local Law Intro 10 of 2026 (domestic and farm animal definitions) and a NYS DOT overhead sign structure along Route 9, issuing consistency recommendations on both.