WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES. October 10, 2006: The President of the Rosedale Residents Association reports tonight that Walgreens representatives have informed him the drug chain has decided to cancel the meeting scheduled for tomorrow evening at White Plains High School to go over their proposal to place a Walgreen’s outlet on the former Sports Page property. Patrick Sevcik , President of the Rosedale Residents Association gives the reason for the Walgreen’s cancellation as the abrupt change in jurisdiction reported to the Planning Board tonight contained in the letter from the Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel to the Board, changing jurisdiction on the Walgreen’s proposal from the Planning Board to the Common Council. The letter also sited objections to the current proposal as outlined exclusively in the previous WPCNR story filed early this afternoon.

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WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES. By John F. Bailey. October 10, 2006: The decision as to whether Walgreen’s will be allowed to occupy the former Sports Page site on Mamaroneck road has been taken away from the Planning Board and given to the Common Council. The move comes after unprecedented Rosedale neighborhood protest to the city administration over the last two weeks on the matter.

1205 Mamaroneck Avenue, site of former Sports Page Restaurant. Planning, Law and Building switched jurisdictions and declared the Common Council the official approving agency on the Walgreen’s proposal in a letter to the Rosedale Residents Assocation Friday. Photo, WPCNR News.

The Building, Planning and Law Departments after further review of the Walgreen’s proposal to build a Walgreen’s outlet on the site of the old Sports Page Restaurant, have determined the matter is a Special S Zone Amendment which places the Walgreen’s matter under the jurisdiction of the Common Council, not The Planning Board.

The decision, comes about from the intervention by Mayor Joseph Delfino based on the Mayor’s recollection of previous matters involving the property according to a letter from the Commissioner of Planning  to the Planning Board.

The 10-page letter from Susan Habel  is dated October 6. The letter finds extensive fault with the preliminary proposal by Walgreen’s, including:

* The store footprint intrudes on former lots

* The landscaping on Dale Street has not been preserved

* The parking area is not enhanced and screened

* Unacceptable treatment of the steep slope in the rear of the property;

*  The Planning Department does not accept a fence on the top of the concrete retaining wall at the rear

* The Department of Planning spells out certain conditions that a B-2 business at this part of Mamaroneck Avenue has to meet, among them, “limiting the resuse of existing buildings and any expansion of existing uses within these neighborhood business areas to primarily neighborhood oriented uses,” and “ensure that all changes to and redevelopment of existing neighborhood business uses include adequatre off street customer and employee parking to prevent spill over of commercial parking into the abutting residential areas.”

The letter also states, “The Planning department finds that the informal application does not meet the requirements of the S Zone District,” and therefore it requires an amendment to the ordinance which can only be granted by the Common Council.

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WPCNR BACKROOM BULLETIN. October 10, 2006: Callers to WPCNR have complained that the Planning Board Agenda was not immediately available to them and information on what was on the agenda was withheld from them by the Planning Department when they asked for information about what was on the agenda.  They also complained the agenda  was not available on the website.

In the interest of open government, here is the Planning Board Agenda for this evening’s meeting which was available on the city website as of 1 P.M.  

The Common Council Special meeting for Tuesday afternoon has been moved to Wednesday, October 11 at 5 P.M., the agenda for that meeting is presently scrambled and unreadable on the city website. (WPCNR reported this to the Mayor’s Office as of 9:30 A.M. Tuesday morning.)

 As of 1 P.M.  Items on the Council agenda  for tommorrow’s meeting are still scrambled and unreadable. Other than the Pinnacle “Guarantee of Affordable Housing” extension request, the items for council discussion are not known at this time.

The Planning Board Agenda– take careful notes:

WHITE PLAINS PLANNING BOARD

CALENDAR FOR MEETING OF

OCTOBER 10, 2006 7:00pm

(232-06)     Walgreens – 1205 Mamaroneck Avenue (formerly Sports Page); B-2 (Neighborhood Business) Zoning District – Informal Review of Proposed Site Plan. Environmentally Sensitive Site.

SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARINGS

(230-06)     Proposed Restaurant – 177 South Lexington Avenue (aka 2-4 East Post Road); B-3 (Intermediate Business) Zoning District – Special Permit Application.

(108-06)     28 Woodcrest Avenue; R2-4 (Residential One and Two Family) Zoning District – 2 Lot Subdivision Application. Environmentally Sensitive Site.

(109-06)     1 Hubbard Drive; R1-7.5 (Residential One Family) Zoning District – 2 Lot Subdivision Application.

(110-06)     83 Albemarle Road; R1-5 (Residential One Family) Zoning District – 2 Lot Subdivision Application.

(233-06)     39 Saxon Woods Road; R1-12.5 (Residential One Family) Zoning District – Site Plan Amendment for a Garage and House Addition. Environmentally Sensitive Site.

(105-06)     201 Beverly Road; R1-5 (Residential One Family) Zoning District – Three-Lot Subdivision. Re-notification due to lapse in activity.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

(106-05)     240 Rosedale Avenue; R1-12.5 (Residential One-Family) Zoning District – Final Five-Lot Subdivision Application, and Site Plan Applications for Three of the Lots. Environmentally Sensitive Site.

(247-05)Liberty Street; R2-4 (Residential One and Two Family Zoning District) – Site Plan Application for a Two-Family House. Environmentally Sensitive Site.

(228-06)     105 Woodcrest Avenue; R1-5 (Residential One-Family) Zoning District – Site Plan Application. Environmentally Sensitive Site.

OTHER MATTERS

(231-06)     Little Mt. Zion Holy Church – 230 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard; B-3 (Intermediate Business) Zoning District – Site Plan Amendment Application.

(229-06)     One North Broadway – Revised Lobby Plan and Amendment to the Special S- Zone. Common Council referral.

(235-06)     JPI – 300 Mamaroneck Avenue – Amendment to the Jefferson Approval for Parking and Residential Use. Common Council referral.

(101-05)     Beech Street Subdivision – Changes to the cul de sac.

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WPCNR BROADCAST BOOTH. October 10, 2006: White Plains first sportscaster John Vorperian, longtime host of Beyond The Game on WPPA-TV, Channel 76, interviews the author of Little League, Big Dreams, the book that exposes the big serious business of a little boys game, Little League, its roster manipulations, and its obcessions,  this evening at 10 P.M. on “The Spirit of 76”, and the program is cabled again Friday at 9 P.M. Euchner talks about the controversy over how kids are brought up to play sports today, the intensity, and the effects on the children.

Charles Euchner, (top) the man whose book Little League, Big Dreams does to Little League what Friday Night Lights did for high school football is interviewed by the Voice of  White Plains Sports of White Plains Public Access TV, John Vorperian, (below) on Beyond the Game tonight at 10 on WPPA-TV, Channel 76, “The Spirit of 76.” Photo, Courtesy Sourcebooks, Inc.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. October 10, 2006: White Plains High School will dismiss early Thursday afternoon at 2:20 P.M. as the school stages a “lockdown drill” and Early Dismissal Drill, according to a letter sent parents this week by WPHS Principal, Ivan Toper.

During the Lockdown Drill school staff will “secure their classrooms.” Students will be instructed “to remain quiet and follow teacher’s instructions,” will not be allowed to leave the classroom and all cellphone communication will be prohibited while the mock “Lockdown” is in effect.

The Lockdown, according to the letter, “is a procedure used when there is an immediate and imminent threat to the school building population. The letter also announces a Crisis Response Safety Plan is being prepared for the school by the White Plains High School Safety Team.