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COMMISSIONER GOMEZ:ASSERTS IT IS NOT A REZONING PLAN.
IT RESPONDS TO PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR MORE HOUSING FOR WORKERS, SENIORS AND ITS NEED.
PLAN JUST SUGGESTIONS. WOULD REQUIRE FEASIBILITY STUDIES. NOT SET IN STONE.
WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey March 5, 2024:
The Public Hearing on the ONEWHITEPLAINS Draft Plan setting the “suggested direction” of the White Plains of the future was staunchly defended by City Planning Commissioner Christopher Gomez Monday evening at the Common Council monthly meeting
He started the hearing with a 33 minute “deep dive” into what the plan does and does not do — to address the overwhelming housing need.
Using slides he drove home that point directly. He said the need for affordable housing for persons wanting to stay in the city and seniors wanting to downsize White Plains was the most mentioned directions the city needed to take based on the comments of over 2,000 persons saying what they “White Plains of the Future” needed to address.
From the get-go, he criticized misconceptions about the plan that have been raised in letters to the Common Council saying,
“I’m going to allay a lot of fears today and that’s my hope. I want to clarify the record as to what is actually in the document. Frankly some wording and initiatives could have been worked better so asnot to make people scared of change”
Mr. Gomez got to the point on the big misconceptions the public has complained about since his last public hearing appearance saying the plan was made up of
“General policy recommendations—not zoning changes, that zoning changes required a environmental review”; that the “suggestions” in the plan came from thousands of public comments over 3 years; that there was “no agenda, no “preconceived notions,” “it’s not over. draft plan is not set in stone.”
He documented the lack of housing options in White Plains with this:
He pointed out some of the options suggested and areas where they could possibly be built but would require a “feasibility study” to see how or whether such projects fit.
Gomez showed Accessory Dwelling Unit Designs, and debunked the rumors that Governor Hochul had endorsed them.
He addressed how the plan suggestion for large campuses such as Burke, White Plains Hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital to “evaluate and potentially revise zoning”.
He clarified that the Conservation Subdivision possibilities for such properties as the Farrell Estates (formerly Ridgeway Country Club) was already city law since 1980. He showed how setback rules eased and restricted the size of housing built on such properties. And declared certain allegations about conservation subdivisions as myths.
GOMEZ NOTED THE SETBACKS FOR THE VARIOUS ACREAGES OF CONSERVATION DEVELOPMENTS
Next he showed color codes of zoned areas and the possibilities of building housing on them, such as this one on the North Street Corridor (where, full disclosure, this reporter lives). (The blue areas shown in this North Street corridor slide above show buildings that could be built on.)
Housing Strategies the plan “suggests”
Mayor Tom Roach was number 2 in the speaking order, doubling down on the nature of the Draft Plan, as being a suggestion document only. He said, waving the plan in his right hand:
“This is what we are talking about tonight. It is not designed to apply to any project or site. It is a recommendation….even if it passed there is no guarantee it will ever be used.
The Comprehensive Plan Committee itself wrote this document. This is their document. The Council got it when I got it… There were videos made of every meeting.
This is going to be different when we get done. This is a very transparent process.”
Gomez mentioned in his opening presentation that the Farrell Estates site plan may be submitted in two months. (Earlier in the council meeting, the council meeting designated itself the lead agency for the Environmental Review of The Galleria project).
On the Windward School possibilities, Gomez said any development by the new owners would be under the Planning Board jurisdiction. The Planning Commissioner, wrapping up, said that though no proposal had been presented to the Planning Board, he expected one in another two months. He said the Windward School property already is eligible for cluster housing under the Conservation Subdivision statute, but there is a possibility of attaching single family homes to that property, though he emphasized no proposal had been submitted.
The entire public hearing may be viewed, starting 16 minutes into the meeting on White Plains
TV, by going to the city website at this link: