Hits: 253

WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. Recap of White Plains Council of Neighborhood Associations Meeting with Mayor Roach. March 4, 2024:

March 1st, 2024

Dear Victoria Presser, President of the White Plains Common Council,

There was a special meeting of the Council of Neighborhood Associations last Tuesday 2/27/24. The Association Presidents who support the sentiments in this letter represent about 4000 households in White Plains. It was a lengthy meeting where leaders and members of various associations posed questions, voiced concerns, and offered serious criticisms of the draft Comprehensive Plan.

The greatest area of criticism concerned zoning changes and policy proposals that would impact single-family neighborhoods in significant ways. In general, every provision in the plan that affects all neighborhoods or specific neighborhoods should engender consultation with neighborhood associations. It was not lost on the CNA that – but for Mike Dalton of the Fisher Hill Association taking the initiative and meeting with the Mayor – there would have been no representation of the neighborhood associations on the Comprehensive Plan Committee. The Implementation Committee would benefit from greater representation of neighborhood associations as prototypical grassroots stakeholders.

While both the Plan and the CNA acknowledge the need for affordable housing, there is substantial opposition to zoning changes that were put forward as potential solutions to the problem. The law provides that 8% to 12% of new apartment building units should be set aside for affordable housing. The City’s January newsletter boasts of two new 2023 apartment projects – a 73-unit building with 9 affordable units and a 303-unit apartment building. No information on affordable units was provided in the discussion of the 303-unit building. Are there 8% to 12% affordable units? It’s not clear. Perhaps that’s because the City allows developers to “buyout” affordable units (also called the “fee-in-lieu” payment in the Comprehensive Plan). Frankly, developers buying out of their obligations to provide affordable housing defeats the most useful, cost-friendly, and productive way to diversify housing in White Plains.

A second major concern for CNA members’ is the proposal for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Permitting ADUs in single-family areas permits attached, detached, and interior spaces to be rented out. Single-family homes are converted into two-family dwellings (i.e., by renting out a garage, a basement, an attic, an outbuilding, or an addition to the home). This proposal sacrifices the single-family neighborhoods that contribute so much to the character and desirability of White Plains as a place to live.

Participants in the CNA meeting had specific criticisms of six LiveWP initiatives (LiveWP 1, 6, 12, 13, 14, and 16). LiveWP

1 opens the door to ADUs. LiveWP 6 would place senior housing (including assisted living buildings) in single-family zones. Assisted living residences require plenty of parking for employees and visitors and just would not fit well in an R-1 zone.

Live WP 12 – Facilitate evaluation of rezoning residentially-zoned campus properties including Burke Rehabilitation, NY Hospital, and the Windward School campuses to more dense development.

LiveWP 13 and 14 pertain to 10-acre and 5-acre plots and override existing zoning regulations without sufficient thought about how more dense development fits into an established residential neighborhood of large lots.

LiveWP 16 – Study the potential to permit two-family residences, townhomes and/or medium density housing along portions of the North Street Corridor. The CNA representatives support an increase in affordable housing and urge an end to allowing developers to buyout of their legal obligations. Preserving the integrity of single-family neighborhoods is crucial, as sacrificing them would be detrimental to the long-term vitality of White Plains. Though we are concentrating at present on the highly unpopular provisions of the Comprehensive Plan, we look forward to voicing our support for many good ideas in the Plan (e.g., more art installations, a local museum, Park Ambassadors, EMS services incorporated into the fire department). Finally, the CNA would also like to partner with the City in order to help revitalize inactive neighborhood associations and inspire the creation of new associations.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Sanchez, President of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, with the support of the Presidents of the following associations:

Bob Kahn, Highlands Civic Association Kelly Roper, Prospect Park Association

John Sheehan, Gedney Farms Association

Michael A. Sanchez, Rosedale Residential Association

Robert Friscia, North Steet Association

Michael J. Matarese, Old Oak Ridge Association

Nancy Giges, Hillair Circle Civic Association

Marc Rovner, Ridgeway of White Plains Association

Francis Jones, Rocky Dell Association

Daniel Letizia, Reynal Park Association Ken Kristal, Carhart Association

cc: Mayor Thomas Roach Justin Brasch Richard Payne John M. Martin Jennifer Puja Jeremiah Frei-Pearson Eileen McClain Christopher Gomez John Callahan