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The Sidewalks of White Plains

• September 27:
  
  
  • CCOS Fall Priorities:more
    
    
• September 25:
  
  
  • Planning Board Roundup:more

• September 22:
  
  
  • District to hold back 10 Seventh Graders :more
    
    
• August 25:
  
  
  • Planning Board Roundup:more
    
    
• August 22:
  
  
  • High School Construction speeds up:more
    
    
  • Nicoletti: Expects Brockway "DEC" Green light:more

CCOS sets fall priorities:

Calls for city to open closed "Greenway" between Gedney Way and Bryant.

Veteran observer sees opening as "powderkeg," bound to irk residents of Overlook Road, Pleasant Road, Gedney Terrace.

CCOS Suggests city make D'Elia property part of Greenway
through eminent domain or Trust for Public Land assistance.

Salutes 5 Councilpersons for blocking New York Presbyterian Hospital Plan renews call for city to work with Trust for Public Land to buy parkland.

Cites Army Corps of Engineers ruling as bar to development;
City Environmental Officer says city is not subject to ruling.
Memorial United Methodist Church, Bryant Avenue

Harrington: Cleaning up Gedney to Bryant section is "not a big job."
Long observer says Pleasant Avenue, Gedney Terrace may oppose.

Harrington described the process of readying the section as "not a big job" for the city. He suggested it requires bulldozer excavation to clear the path, and laying of wood chips on the fenced-off section of old trackbed for approximately 3/4 of a mile from the Gedney Way Bridge to Bryant Avenue. He said access would have to be constructed at the Bryant Avenue overpass above the trail.

WPCNR examined the entrance to the proposed Greenway extension at the Gedney Way entrance, and found the natural walkway quite obstructed with branches of trees extending over it. Alan Teck, President of CCOS estimated that the city needed to allot approximately $10,000 to ready the closed section.

WPCNR has learned from a longterm resident at the site that the proposal may be met with resistance by residents of Pleasant Avenue and Gedney Terrace whose homes back right up to the narrow strip of closed section. These homes are much closer to the new proposed section than are the homes of residents residing along the open section of Greenway from Gedney Way to the Scarsdale line. A source familiar with the Gedney Way to Bryant Avenue section said that approximately 5 years ago a series of burglaries were committed at some homes bordering the closed section from Gedney Way to Bryant. This source said that opening the section by the city might be resisted by residents, and be seen as a security threat.

Alan Teck, President of CCOS said that CCOS would ask the Council to set aside funding to open the section. Rita Malmud, Common Council President, told WPCNR she had asked the Department of Recreation and Parks about the costs and the extent of work involved in opening the section, before she would consider entertaining a Council resolution to prepare the closed section for opening.

D'Elia Subdivison property as a green link to Ridgeway Nature Trail.

Harrington suggested the city annex the environmentally sensitive D'Elia Subdivision property (off Hillair Circle) and make it a part of The Greenway system. Harrington saw the acquisition of the D'Elia Subdivision property, currently at an impasse in the city approval process, as a logical green link complimenting the Ridgeway Nature Trail. The trail begins approximately 3 acres to the east of the Greenway Scarsdale border section.

The Nature Trail consists of 13 acres of land situated just Southwest of Ridgeway School and stretching South to Branch Brook Road acting as a green buffer between Reynal Road on the West, Holbrooke Road on the East and Branch Brook Road to the South.

D'Elia Subdivision situation.
Teck suggests acquiring D'Elia Subdivision property for the city.

David and Deborah Finley, chairpersons of the Ad Hoc Committee to Save the D'Elia Property, presented a short history of the fight to prevent the development of this parcel of land. They said that the owner had purchased the property from the city in the 1970s, and had proposed 20 homes on the 6 acre site in 1997 "with no wetlands delineated."

Mr. Finley said the City Planning Board identified major streams and wetlands on the property and made the developer trim the proposal to 8 homes. The revised subdivision proposal, he indicated, is now at an impasse because the developer has not responded to legal questions raised by the Planning Board and a nearby resident. The issues affect the placement of an access road to the proposed subdivision. Mr. Finley said that the Mayor of White Plains "is not anxious to step in at all to prevent development of this property."

In discussion, Alan Teck, President of CCOS, said that in view of recent Army Corps of Engineers regulations, the D'Elia property might no longer be able to be developed. The regulations Teck referred to require federal permits for new construction projects in wetlands within the New York City watershed.

Teck said that if the owner of that property were willing to sell and the city would not purchase the land, that he had been assured by Westchester County was ready to step in and add it to its greenspace list. He also raised the possibility that the Trust for Public Land could step in and fund the purchase price, or that the city could acquire it by eminent domain.

William Ryan, County Legislator, said that if the city did not want to act and acquire the D'Elia property, that he would "at the drop of a hat will bring it (acquisition of the D'Elia tract for parkland) to the County (Board of Legislators).

CCOS Kickoff for a Central Park Movement:
Salutes 5 Councilpersons for blocking New York Presbyterian Hospital Plansrenews call for city to work with Trust for Public Land to buy parkland.

At the beginning of the meeting, Alan Teck, CCOS President said the mission of the group was to preserve open space in the city because open space raises property values, makes the city a nice place to work, increases air quality and generally improves the quality of life in the city.
He took time to recognize the five Common Councilmembers who voted against referring New York Presbyterian Hospital Plans to city departments for review: William King, Rita Malmud, Lorenzo Delgado, Pauline Oliva and Benjamin Boykin, saluting them for their courage and efforts on behalf of preserving open space.

Teck then spelled out the CCOS 2001 agenda. He said CCOS was going to push the city for opening of the closed section of The Greenway as "The kickoff to solidify the movement so a park can go from Scarsdale to Silver Lake."

He sited the recent acquisition by Westchester County of 135 acres in Bedford, with "no threats. no strings," that "this is an idea whose time has come to preserve open space and parkland."

Teck said that CCOS has been in contact with the Trust for Public Land for the last five years, and that "they want to buy land in White Plains." He said the Trust was willing to negotiate if New York Presbyterian Hospital was ready to sell land to the city, and held the Trust out as a source for funding should the hospital attitude towards selling the land for a park change.

Environmental officer reports new wetlands regulations do not affect White Plains properties.

WPCNR explored the new Army Corps of Engineers wetlands regulations with the city's Environmental Officer, Rod Johnson. Mr. Johnson told WPCNR that the regulation only concerns wetlands within the New York City watershed properties.

He said the regulation does not apply to the D'Elia property in particular. He said that the watershed laws concern themselves with wetlands that directly drain into New York City watershed properties, and not to all wetlands. Properties in White Plains are south of the Kensico Dam reservoir which is on a higher plain than the city of White Plains, and properties in White Plains therefore do not drain into the Kensico reservoir, he said.

Reported by John Bailey from the Memorial Methodist Church, and from a telephone interview with Rod Johnson, White Plains Environmental Officer.

Planning Board Roundup:

Soundview Resident charges Scarsdale colluded with Fenway Golf Club to
improve cellular service in village:
Calls it "tower-dumping" on White Plains.

Fenway Golf Club letter to members said tower placements on course might be decreed by eminent domain if club
members did not back White Plains tower plan.

Omnipoint presents 2 alternate plans for towers:
at Archbishop Stepinac or Highlands Middle School, Scarsdale water tower and Department of Public works. Matter continued to October 10.

Scarsdale Mayor not consulted by Omnipoint.

Judicial Training Institute at Pace University on Crane Road approved by Planning Board.

Woodcrest Heights Update:
County Conservation department disputes Jillian Estates definition of wetlands in Woodcrest Heights. "Scoping Session" moved to October 10.

Birch Street: moving of lot line protocol questions delay consideration to next month.

Environmental Officer suggests pre-construction meeting on approved Rolling Ridge Road subdivision.

Building Department and Planning Board institute policing procedure to monitor construction on environmental sites.

September 25, 2000

Omnipoint Communications presented two alternate plans for cellular tower placement around the Fenway Golf Club, as requested by the City of White Plains Planning Board last night. Neither plans were submitted to the Village of Scarsdale for their feasibility, according to the Mayor of Scarsdale.

The first of these proposals projected placing a 5 foot x 8 inch tower on a 60 foot pole placed on the cupola of Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains. This Stepinac tower would combine with a 60-foot tower placed at the Scarsdale Department of Public Works dump and another tower at the height of 90 feet on the Scarsdale water tower on Garden Road. These three overlapping locations would cover the cellular gap Omnipoint's proposal for a 150-foot tower on the Fenway Golf Club White Plains property was designed to eliminate.

The second changes the White Plains location to the Highlands Middle School. A 150-foot pole would be erected by the present flagpole (which would be seen from Old Mamaroneck Road), upon which the Omnipoint 5 foot antenna would be mounted. (To put this in perspective, the present flagpole at Highlands rises to 60 feet.) The Highlands location would be supplemented by a 60-foot pole at the Scarsdale Department of Public Works, and another antenna on the 90-foot Scarsdale water tower on Garden Road.

Anthony Mulrane, lead presenter for Omnipoint, said its Frequency Engineer, Chris Olson, had plotted eight dozen alternative sites before settling on the two alternative combinations to fill the gap in Omnipoint cellular coverage.

Mulrane said "We don't know if these locations are available to us. These locations would have an impact on more things."

At the beginning of the presentation, Mulrane said that the advantage of the 150-foot tower camouflaged as a tree planned for the Fenway Golf Club property was that the view of it only affected one resident.

One member of the Planning Board asked why the tower could not be located elsewhere on the golf course on Scarsdale property. Mulrane said, "I cannot answer that question."

Mary Cavallero, Planning Board Chair, said "The public has made it abundantly clear that it (the Fenway tower location in White Plains) impacts more than one residence."

Kol-Ami Temple and tenants and residents express concern.

Dr. Elliot Spiegel, Headmaster of the Solomon-Schechter School of Westchester, one of the first of the more than 30 residents assembled to comment on the proposal expressed concern the tower at the Fenway Golf Club would have on his students attending kindergarten at Congregation Kol-Ami at 252 Soundview Avenue.

Mary Cavallero, Chairperson, advised Spiegel that "The F.A.A. (Federal Aviation Administration) has declared that it (cellular radiation) is not a health risk."

The President of Congregation Kol-Ami expressed similar concerns and said the tower presence would impact on his building's ambiance, undergoing an extensive renovation to expand its membership, and deteriorate real estate values.

Resident introduces Fenway Club letter to members "selling" the White Plains tower location to members as plan by Scarsdale to plug cellular gaps. Accuses Scarsdale of "tower-dumping" on White Plains.

A resident of Soundview Avenue, a longtime member of the Fenway Golf Club, addressed the Board, presenting a copy of a letter to the Planning Board for the record. The letter referred to was sent privately to club members by Joel Langer, Planning Committee Chairman of the Fenway Golf Club, the resident said.

The speaker said the purpose of the letter was to convince club members to accept placement of the tower on the Fenway Club property in its White Plains portion. The speaker charged club members had not been consulted about accepting the tower on the property. He said members were expressing opposition to placing the tower on the Fenway property when they had learned about it.

The resident characterized the letter contents as stating that officers of the Village of Scarsdale went to the Fenway Golf Club management in July of 1996, suggesting to the club management that Scarsdale was experiencing gaps in its cellular coverage communications. The letter was alleged to state that "the village" asked Fenway management to make available the White Plains section of their property for a cellular tower to correct the Scarsdale cellular gap, in effect, the speaker said, "tower-dumping" on White Plains.

The Soundview homeowner described the letter purpose as informing members of the rational for the club entering into an agreement with Omnipoint to accept the tower. He reported that Mr. Langer's letter reasons that if the club did not accept placement of the tower on their property that they faced the prospect of the City of White Plains acquiring sections of the golf course. The letter, he said, painted the specter of Scarsdale or White Plains "by the power of eminent domain," locating a series of antenna placements in sandtraps, woods and fairways, in effect, ruining their golf course.

WPCNR has obtained a copy of the Langer Letter, and upon examining its contents, confirms the speaker's comments as to the content of the letter, though it does not say White Plains would be selecting golf course sites in Scarsdale. The letter also attempts to quell member unhappiness about the acceptance of the Omni-Point agreement. Langer's letter, in addition, says that the agreement would be "voided" if the City of White Plains failed to approve the tower site.

The resident, whose home overlooks the proposed site of the tower, said that throughout the discussions with Omnipoint, emphasis was always on locating the property on the White Plains section of the golf course, that other sections of the course were never considered. Langer's actual letter says a site on the fifth hole located in Scarsdale was considered on an earlier proposal by Bell Atlantic which the club rejected.

In conclusion, the resident said the Fenway/Omnipoint proposal was "scandalous," and "ugly and embarrassing to any member."

In light of the letter presentation and the charges the letter raises, Anthony Mulrane, spokesman for Omnipoint said he wanted a chance to respond to the charges made.
Obviously impressed by the contents of the letter, the Planning Board decided to keep the hearing open and will take up the matter again on October 10 with Omnipoint's response.

Omnipoint alternate site proposals not discussed with the Mayor of Scarsdale.

WPCNR contacted Mark Bench, Mayor of Scarsdale, for his reaction to the Omnipoint proposals. After WPCNR described the alternate locations to him, Bench said he had not heard of these locations before, that Omnipoint had not approached him or the Village, to his knowledge, for information on the suitability of the sites.

When WPCNR informed him of the Omnipoint proposals, Bench said that there was considerable neighborhood opposition to locating antennas at the Scarsdale Department of Public Works sanitation site and placing antennas on the village incinerator smokestack.
The Mayor reported that the water tower location, violated the Scarsdale village ordinance requiring antennas not be placed within 350 feet of a residence, because the water tower stood within 50 feet of a residence.

Scarsdale's Mayor Bench has "no objection" to Fenway Golf Club locating antenna(s) in Scarsdale section of course, if within guidelines. Denies that Scarsdale is "tower-dumping."

Mayor Bench said he has no objection to antenna placement in the Scarsdale sections of Fenway Golf Club, as long as the antenna heights met the Village of Scarsdale ordinance limiting the heights of the antennas to 125 feet.

Omnipoint maintains they need one antenna (proposed for the White Plains section of the property) to be at least 150 feet in height.

Asked to comment on the White Plains residents' charges of Scarsdale deliberately "tower-dumping" on White Plains, Mayor Bench referred to his meetings with Mayor Joseph Delfino of White Plains in August.

At that meeting, Bench said, he assured Mayor Delfino he was not rejecting antenna placement within Scarsdale village, and had explained the village aesthetics legislation to him and city officials.

Bench: up to Fenway to present tower locations on Scarsdale section of course. Open to considering a variance.

"I'd love to be able to cooperate (allow the antenna elsewhere on the course within Scarsdale), if Fenway Golf Club would like to limit the 150 foot height and lower it (the antenna) to the 125 foot height (the ordinance limit)," Bench told WPCNR.

Asked if the Mayor would consider granting a variance to permit the 150 foot height in a Scarsdale-location of the course, the Mayor said he would "consider" introducing the variance request to the Village Board of Trustees, but "I only have one vote."

He said the Village had considered such a variance in placing an antenna at the grassy knoll on Exit 22 of the Hutchinson River Parkway county property when Crown Castle was attempting to site an antenna in Scarsdale. However, it never came to a vote because the Exit 22 location was found to be too close to residences, and the operator did not like the contours of the surrounding terrain.

Mayor Bench said this was a Fenway Golf Club matter to recommend alternate locations around the course located in Scarsdale. He said, that if the golf club found a Scarsdale section of the course where the 150-foot tower could be reasonably camouflaged by trees far from any residence, he would consider the variance, and that "it will be Fenway Golf Club who would site it."

Judicial Training Institute at Pace University on Crane Road approved by Planning Board.

The Planning Board unanimously recommended approval a regional Judicial Training Institute on the Pace University White Plains campus. The plans will now proceed to the Common Council for final approval.

Deputy Planning Commissioner, Susan Habel, said that the Common Council and the Planning Department felt "it was very prestigious for the city to be have been picked" for this facility. She predicted the facility would bring much recognition and business to the city from all over the Northeast.

The building is to be constructed on the site of an existing Pace library which will be removed to erect the new building. The location is on the North edge of the Pace campus on Crane Road.

An existing parking lot on the eastern portion of the campus is to be double-decked to accommodate additional parking for the institute. A new entrance to Pace University will be constructed as part of the project, paralleling the driveway entrance to Good Council Academy bordering the southern boundary of the Pace campus.

Woodcrest Heights Update:
County Conservation department disputes Jillian Estates definition of wetlands in Woodcrest Heights. "Scoping Session" moved to October 10.

After the Omnipoint discussion took place, Mary Cavallero, Planning Board Chairperson, announced that Jillian Estates had planned as late as Tuesday afternoon to attend the planned scoping session. However, she said they could not straighten out a dispute with the Westchester County Department of Environmental Conservation over where wetlands are located on their site plans.

Cavallero told WPCNR that Jillian Estates contends their surveyor's lines are correct and that the county is wrong. She said the Planning Board had told Jillian Estates to straighten out the confusion with the county before the scoping session. They could not, she said, resolve the problem before the meeting. The Planning Board adjourned the session until October 10.

Birch Street: lot line protocol questions delay consideration to next month.

The consideration of plans for a two-home subdivision on Birch Street in Woodcrest heights was moved up to October 10, pending Building Department and zoning board consideration of whether it was legal to move a lot line without some form of city agency approval.

Straco Corporation attorney, William Noll, contended that his client was working out a financial arrangement with the owners of adjacent property his client was acquiring for the proposed site. He said that nowhere in the zoning ordinance is there any regulation that says moving of a lotline that does not affect setbacks needs to be approved by any city agency. Building Commissioner
Mike Gismondi said he needed to study the situation, and therefore the Planning Department postponed further consideration of the plans until October 10, pending city analyis of Noll's contention.

Environmental Officer suggests pre-construction meeting on approved Rolling Ridge Road subdivision.

The Planning Board approved the Rolling Ridge Road subdivisions proposed by owner William Rose, satisfied that the wetlands issues involving these two properties had been resolved.
At the request of the City Environmental Officer, Rod Johnson, the Planning Board attached the condition that the Building Department would meet with the developers before construction begins to assure that the contractor(s) know the exact requirements of the Planning Board-approved site plan.

After the meeting, WPCNR asked if such a pre-construction meeting was going to be standard on environmentally sensitive sites in the future. Building Commissioner Mike Gismondi remarks gave us the sense that preconstruction meetings would not be necessary on each environmentally sensitive site, but in projects involving extensive conditions of construction such as the Rolling Ridge Road site, such a conference remained at the city's discretion.

Building Department and Planning Board institute policing procedure to monitor construction on environmental sites.

The new pre-construction meeting with Mr. Rose's sites seems to WPCNR to be a city reaction to a flagrant violation by the owners executing two environmentally sensitive site plans this year on Hillair Circle. Builders took it upon themselves to change the approved "footprint" of homes on Planning Board-approved site plans without obtaining approval from the Planning Board.
WPCNR asked Mr. Gismondi and Eileen McClain, Secretary of the Planning Board, after the meeting what was being done to "catch" these careless executions of site plans.

Ms. McClain said under a new policy, now in effect, the Building Department is being furnished with copies of all Planning Board-approved site plans, involving environmentally sensitive sites. "The approved site plan will be attached to each Planning Board Approval sent to the building department," Ms. Mclain told us today. She said this would enable Building Department engineers to compare the approved site plans when the final site plans are submitted for building permits.

Mr.Gismondi said his engineers would be comparing the approved and the final plans for any discrepancies.

The aim is to eliminate construction of buildings that do not meet Planning Board specifications precisely. Such a situation, when caught by building inspectors puts the Planning Board in the awkward position of granting retroactive variances after the building has already been constructed (as they did, in the case of the two Hillair Circle homes where just such violations occurred).

In other Planning Board actions...

The Board approved the Grande family subdivision at 22 Ridgeview Avenue.

The Board approved an addition to 4 Greene Lane, providing appropriate landscaping was included shielding the neighboring property.

The Board adjourned the Con Edison proposal to house transformers at 9 New Street to October.

The Board set Saturday morning, September 16, as the time for a tour of the Fenway Golf Club property to see "staked out" outlines of proposed two maintenance sheds on the property. The matter was adjourned to October.

The Board requested the owner of 90 Ferris Avenue to discuss the uses of his building in more detail with the zoning board to ascertain how better to apply for an expeditious variance application.

The Board approved reinstatement of the previous site plan/special permit approvals to Clayton Park LLC for construction of an 8-story, 260-unit apartment complex slated for construction at Main Street and Canfield Avenue. The developer had let their original approval expire, due to the length of time needed to evict persons living in homes on the site along Main Street, Canfield Avenues and Eastview Avenue.

The complex will feature a swimming pool for tenants, and underground parking. It will be built opposite Harvey Turnure Park on Canfield Avenue, and feature a landscaped courtyard and entrance with a guardhouse entrance.

Reported by John Bailey at the Planning Board and through telephone interview with Mayor Mark Bench of Scarsdale.

School District will not allow 10 Seventh Grade students to attend middle schools tomorrow unless Hepatitus B immunication proof presented.

Students fail to furnish proof of Hepatitis B vaccination. Education House, September 20

The White Plains City School District has identified 10 White Plains seventh grade students who have not, as of today, presented proof that they have been vaccinated for Hepatitis B, and they will not be allowed to attend their schools tomorrow without presentation of proof of vaccination against the disease.

Proof consists of a signed letter from the doctor or health professional administering the vaccination.

Principals meet with students. Parents notified today.

September 20, 2000

Michelle Schoenfeld, Spokesperson for the Board of Education, said five students were from Highlands and the rest from Eastview School. She told WPCNR that all 10 were allowed to attend school today, September 20, the state mandated deadline by which all seventh graders were supposed to be inoculated. Schoenfeld reported the students were met with by the principals of their respective schools, their parents notified and told that unless the students brought proof of vaccination to school with them tomorrow, they would not be allowed to attend classes.

28 comply in one week.

Ms. Schoenfeld told WPCNR one week ago that 38 students had remained unvaccinated. Telephone calls and letters to the 38, succeeded in inducing action to get the vaccinations on the part of 28 parents Nevertheless, the 10 remaining still have not presented evidence of vaccination so they will be "detained," as the district describes, from attending classes.

The district sent three letters home to all students (two last spring and one in August). The District made three phone calls to students not complying up until last week, and made numerous announcements to PTAs in the spring and in schools the first week of school.

The vaccination was made a requirement for seventh graders by the State Department of Education last spring and students had until September 20, 2000 to comply. The district has directed parents to various sources where they can get their children vaccinated.

Reported by Michelle Schoenfeld, spokesperson for the White Plains School District. Medical information from the Mayo Clinic Family Health Book.

Spread through contact with blood, sexual activity.

Hepatitis B is the most dangerous form of hepatitis. It is most often acquired through the exposure to contaminated blood, by sexual contact with an infected person, and through the use of contaminated injection needles. Symptoms of the disease include jaundice, (yellowing of the eyes and skin), fatigue, lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting, low-grade fever and changes in the senses of taste and smell.

The disease is similar to Acute Hepatitis A, but can be more debilitating and last longer, and may result in contracting chronic hepatitis. The disease attacks the liver, rendering the liver incapable of filtering bilirubin from blood, causing your skin and eyes to turn yellow, and turning urine the color of tea. There is no specific treatment for Hepatitis B. Once it is diagnosed, diet is strictly monitored and blood checked frequently for signs of the virus until the liver heals itself.

Hepatitis A is spread through contaminated water and food.

Planning Board Roundup:

Planning Board "loves the nightlife:" Authorizes 1 year trial of extended sidewalk cafe hours from 11 to 12:30 Sunday to Wednesday and 12:30 to 2 AM Thursday through Saturday.

Approves new location of White Plains Housing Authority. 35 residents of 225 Martin Luther King Boulevard object to employee-oriented facility.

DPW Commissioner Nicoletti, Soundview residents sharply criticize Fenway Golf Club storage structure plans.

City Hall, August 22, 2000

The Planning Board followed through on Mayor Joseph Delfino's effort to increase the vitality of the White Plains downtown Tuesday evening by voting to amend the Municipal Code to extend sidewalk cafe closing hours on a one-year trial basis.

The resolution, if the Common Council approves it, will now allow any sidewalk cafe in the downtown area and in nonresidential areas, to remain open to 12:30 AM Sunday through Wednesday evenings, and until 2 AM on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Under current code, sidewalk cafes close at 11 PM Sunday through Wednesday, and 12:30 on Thursday through Saturday nights.

The Planning Board resolution at the urging of Planning Department Commissioner Michael Graessle, approved the resolution for only one year, so the Board could analyze the effect on the downtown of the extended hours. Eileen McClain, Secretary to the Planning Board, said that the Department of Public Works Commissioner, has the authority by Municipal Code to restrict the operations of any cafe violating city ordinances governing noise or conduct of its patrons during the extended hours.

New Housing Authority Headquarters approved.

The Planning Board approved a proposal to build a new headquarters for the White Plains Housing Authority next to 225 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The board recommended that the tenants be involved in the planning for the uses of a community room to be refurbished and designed at the existing 225 building.

A petition of some 35 signatures from tenants of the 225 building in the Windbrook projects was delivered to the Planning Board, urging the new headquarters building not be approved. A spokesman for the petitioners voiced the residents' concerns that the loss of 17 parking spaces next to the existing 225 apartment house would inconvenience the residents because they do not have enough parking now, being forced for the most part to park on the street in front of 225 DMLJK Boulevard. They also protested the spending of Housing and Urban Development money to build simply offices for Housing Authority personnel. When asked about the cost of construction, the Housing Authority spokesmen simply said that HUD was paying the cost of the headquarters construction and gave no figure.

The Common Council still has to authorize the construction of the new headquarters.

Mike Graessle, Commissioner of Planning, advised the Planning Board that consideration of other locations on the Windbrook campus now greenspace was not in the best interest of the residents. He said construction next to the Slater Center or on the green strip on Quarropas Street would deprive the complex of too much green space. He said construction of the headquarters on the vacant gas station site on Post Road, (suggested by the petitioners), was not feasible because the gas station site was too polluted with contaminants for a government facility to be built upon.

Michael Divney, Vice-Chairman, Norma Mack, CO-Commissioner, and Anthony Tascione, Executive Director of the White Plains Housing Authority, presented plans for a 3-story, peaked-roof structure, 75 foot long by 35 feet wide structure, rising 2 stories and fronting above DMLKJ Boulevard, with the first story being partially below grade to house Housing Authority maintenance facilities. The second story would contain meeting rooms and offices for serving the 450 families that live in the Windbrook complex and the over 700 families living in other Housing Authority buildings in White Plains, with the third story reserved for offices.

The Housing Authority leaders said that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had authorized construction of a new headquarters for the Authority in 1984, and a site had been sought for some 15 years. They said the present Housing Authority offices in the basement of 225 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard were operating in conditions violating fire safety and office standards. They cited the fact that windows were screened for security reasons, violating fire safety rules. They mentioned asbestos-wrapped pipes overhead, threatening employee safety. They also mentioned sewage drain back-up that occasionally affect the offices.

The Authority plans to build the new headquarters on the parking lot adjacent to the 225 building, taking 17 parking spaces of the 35 spaces on the present lot. They plan to relocate some new parking on South Lexington Avenue to replace the 17 spaces.

After the headquarters is constructed, the Authority plans to remove the asbestos from the first floor of the 225 building and refurbish the first floor with a community room for the Building 225 residents.

DPW Commissioner Nicoletti, Soundview residents sharply criticize
Fenway Golf Club storage structure plans.

Fenway Golf Club presented plans for two cavernous 22 foot high 9,000 square foot, maintenance facilities (18,000 sq. feet total) to be built on the White Plains section of the golf club property on Old Mamaroneck Road.

The structures themselves would be used to house golf carts, chemicals, golf course maintenance vehicles. The structures were shown to be metal prefabricated construction which to this reporter's eye, resemble a design-mix between long low milk barns and aircraft hangars. The club representatives said the structures would be located 120 feet from the club property line and 220 feet from the nearest home structures on Soundview Avenue.

The plans were sharply criticized by Department of Public Works Commissioner Bud Nicoletti for being prepared and submitted without official engineer's seals. The Commissioner said, "We don't see where a site engineer has been retained." The Commissioner said the city wants to see where the water connections are, and how chemical wastes and run-off water with be separated, among other sewage, storage, and waste disposal concerns. He said he wanted to see a solid waste management plan, fuel tank spill prevention measures, and "a lot more detail" in revised, licensed-engineer "stamped" site plans.

The Planning Board expressed a desire to see tree plantings placed on the slopes leading up to Soundview Avenue to provide a natural buffer shielding the buildings partially from homes on Soundview. The Board strongly suggested the buildings not limit their landscaping to hedges. Board Chairperson Mary Cavallero stated that this seemed like a project that the Fenway Club was just dumping on the White Plains portion of their property, rather than attempting to locate the sheds on the Scarsdale portion of their property, characterizing the Golf Club as "not being a friendly neighbor," citing their cellular tower proposal which is also currently under review by the Planning Board.

Neighbors living on Soundview, overlooking the proposed site of the twin facilities, raised the issue of maintenance and mowing vehicles shattering early morning silence as early as 6 AM, in violation of ordinances observed by other golf clubs within the White Plains city. Neighbors reported that the club begins mowing lawns as early as 6 AM, and indicated this consolidation of facilities close to their homes would irritate the situation.

In other news...

The Planning Board referred out to departments the William Rose subdivision on Rolling Ridge Road, saying it was satisfied with the "footprints" of the homes and swimming pool placements in relation to the wetlands on the property. Department of Public Works Commissioner Bud Nicoletti said the placement of boulders and the redesigned drainage design would appear to greatly improve the flow of water run-off down Rolling Ridge Road.

The Planning Board approved a one year extension of site plan approval for the Marriott Senior Living Services on the New York Presbyterian Hospital Property. The Board approved a one year extension of the Site Plan Special Permit to renovate and expand the First Assembly of God Church, 294 Old Mamaroneck Road.

The Board voted to approve the Amendment of the 1997 Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map south of Maple Avenue, to increase the residential zoning density to be consistent with the Zoning Ordinance. This was to facilitate the construction of a series of 31 approved garden apartments on South Broadway where the 1997 Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map only allowed 29 units on the target piece of property.

Reported by John Bailey, WPCNR, from the Planning Board.