White Plains CitizeNetReporter - <i>King Komments:</i>Zoning No Protection Against Developers/New York Hospital?

High Noon News, 1-28-02, 2:00 PM EST: White Plains Councilman William King has been patrolling the city and does not like what delay on the zoning ordinance changes for the outer neighborhoods has caused. He also asks interesting questions about zoning related to New York Presbyterian Hospital, here is his weekly column.

General Zoning Ordinance Changes I trust the Planning Dept's recommended increased minimum setbacks will be on the February council agenda for enactment, even though we didn't discuss this at our last work session.

I just went by Overlook Road again, between Bolton and Stratford, and I was amazed to see yet another over-sized house being constructed across the street from the two hotel-size houses on the west side of the street.

The character of this neighborhood has been totally changed. Are these all by the same builder? How different would this street (and up Bolton to Old Mamaroneck Road) have looked if the stricter zoning changes had already been in place.

New York Hospital

I am very disappointed over the lack of protection to the surrounding residential community provided by our zoning ordinance related to the New York Hospital property.

First, the requirement of the zoning ordinance for New York Hospital to have a master plan seems to afford little to no protection.

The Council was told we were not within our rights to not refer out the Hospital's proposed proton beam accelerator/research lab-office building proposal even though it was submitted with a Plan B master plan that showed similarly dense development across all undeveloped and developable parts of their property which would bring something like 5,000 parking spaces and corresponding traffic to the site and surrounding area.

The second aspect of the zoning ordinance which does not seem to afford protection is the dual 1/4-acre lot size single-family residential/special permit hospital use zone on the New York Hospital property.

The Hospital's proposed 2 treatment/research buildings will, alone, generate more car traffic than the entire southern 100 acres would if they were developed, according to the limits of its residential zoning classification, to a maximum of 180 single family homes.

That the residential zoning of this area cannot be used as a reference point to limit the amount of car traffic generated by any hospital-related development on the site is discouraging.

I and others I have spoke to thought it was a logical argument that, if NYPH were allowed a special permit for their proposed 2 buildings with their 800 or so parking spaces, that this would effectively "max out" the amount of traffic generated by the site that would be allowable under zoning and prohibit the site from being further developed.

I was disappointed that this is in fact not the case, that NYPH can continue to propose more and more development in the future with more traffic impacts and related environmental impacts on the community.

I am totally unclear - I don't think the Council has been advised one bit - as to when an unacceptable level of development and environmental impact on the surrounding community has been or will ever be reached - what are the environmental thresholds?

We are supposed to base our decisions on some honest, reasonable (non-arbitrary and non-capricious) assessment of when a project's environmental impacts are too much for the community but what do we base our decisions on - on some personal subjective "feel" for when "enough is enough" or what?

Does air pollution have to reach some "critical level" before we can say no? I have asked Rod Johnson for any data on the air quality of White Plains which I would like to have at hand and be briefed on, along with the rest of the Council and, to date, I have received no response.

Do all surrounding street intersections have to be Level of Service E (worst level) at all times of the day or what before it can be said "that's as much development on your site as can be absorbed by the community"?

Even if NYPH is willing to pay for all the traffic projects needed to help mitigate traffic congestion and air pollution generated by the project, the widening of Bryant Ave. and Mamaroneck Ave. north of Bryant and traffic signals at Bryant Crescent, the Bryant Ave. gate, maybe changes to the intersection of Mam. Ave. and Bloomingdale and at Bryant and Heatherbloom, does this mean we have to go along and let this be done?

I think the perceived protection of our zoning ordinance, when in fact this does not seem to be the case, is very misleading to the public, especially to the people living in the surrounding Gedney Farms, Highlands, Bryant Gardens, Wyndham Close, North Street area and Havilands Manor neighborhoods.

When they find out they will not be happy, that this low density zoning classification which was laid over the hospital property in the early 80's, in fact does not prohibit the Hospital from developing at a much higher density than a Gedney Farms-level of residential density, and does not limit the Hospital to a low density, low visitation type of development as currently exists for its psychiatric medical services in the historic oval.

As one person in real estate told me recently, these higher density "office type" developments, these first 2 buildings proposed by New York Hospital with more to come, so close to lower density residential areas will not be good for surrounding property values.

Bill King


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