WPCNR GLOBAL GAZETTE. News & Comment by Smokey The Bear as told to John Bailey. March 10, 2008: As the Renaissance of White Plains stalls in its tracks because of developers approved for projects not being willing to proceed because of tight money or fear the projects will not fillup with buyers, only one development is undergoing the approval process – The Venue. The chi-chi mall proposal for Bloomingdale Road.
Smokey Says -- Only You Can Prevent Global Warming in White Plains and The Venue Would Be a Good Place to Start.
As The Venue , connected with all the right players in development in White Plains, goes before the council, and receives the usual political once-over, an important event occurred in the last month that dramatically effects it:
The County Executive’s Conference on Global Warming and his lofty goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the county by 20% by 2015 and 80% by 2050.
A tree breathes carbon dioxide through its leaves and turns it into oxygen through photosynthesis (thank you, eighth grade Biology!). So, for every tree development cuts down, the developer instantly ups the carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere increasing global warming.
In any consideration of developments in the future, if the county and each of its towns and cities is serious about cutting emissions, and the County Executive is not just whistling a public relations tune on global warming (which he, the District Attorney, and others have been known to do so in the past – remember the gang initiative?) .
Every tree cut down by a proposed development has to be replaced perhaps with two new trees, or three or 30 – somewhere, whatever the immature tree to the mature tree ratio of carbon dioxide reduction meets . Otherwise, the global warming initiative of the County Executive cannot hope to succeed.
Arborcide Assault Escalates Global Warming.
In another intriguing development plans were referred to departments for The Venue a 15 store plus restaurant shopping center at 120 Bloomingdale Road, across the way from Bloomingdale's department store. It is described as a 46,000 square foot retail development to go on the parking lot of the former Nestle building (currently the offices of the New York State Department of Labor). The site is shown above, across from the entrance of Bloomingdale's, looking West. The shopping center would be built on the parking lot.
So, in addition to its Environmental review, White Plains should apply a new standard – the global warming impact review – to consider approval of The Venue.
Last August, the school district “accidently” cut down about a hundred trees at its high school on a whim. They are now replacing those trees.
The Venue development is going to take away a good 100 trees. That’s a lot of carbon dioxide. On this basis alone The Venue should be denied – if you’re serious about global warming carbon dioxide reduction.
The city should as part of any Special Permit granted charge The Venue developers a fee to replant trees around the city to replace the trees they destroy. However the fee should be proportionate – replacing the number of young trees needed to replace the mature tree carbon dioxide removal capacity.
Is this unreasonable?
I do not think so – if the Democrat Common Council is serious about following through on their idol Andrew Spano’s refreshing global warming initiative.
Let’s do it, Common Council.
Let’s make The Venue developers our poster child for responsible development in the new era of the County Executive’s Global Warming initiative. Development that develops without contributing to the end of our planet.
