WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. August6, 2012. UPDATED AUGUST 8, 2012 UPDATED AUGUST 8, 2012 11:20 A.M. E.D.T.UPDATED AUGUST 8, 5 P.M. E.D.T.:
Viewers observing the Monday evening Common Council meeting saw the city take key steps forward into the development (or lack thereof) for some of the last remaining private tracts to develop in White Plains.
Viewers also saw Councilman David Buchwald thank former Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel for her service,(who retired Friday without a successor being named), indicating that the city may be calling on Ms. Habel’s expertise in the future without elaborating.
Mr. Buchwald took the time, at the end of the consent agenda segment to praise Ms. Habel’s service to the city:
“I want to note that in our agenda .this is the last item in our agenda before we get to the public hearings, and it is the last item to which the signature of our just-retired Commissioner of Planning,Susan Habel, has put her name. And, I want to thank her for her work on this particular issue (solar energy) and for her contributions over a very distinguished career here in the city of White Plains. She’s a resident of the city,dedicated to it, in many ways she will continue to enjoy the fruits of her labor on behalf of the city. On behalf of the entire Common Council, I want to extend our gratitude to her and I wish her best of luck in her continued enjoyment of her semi-retirement. We’re not letting her completely go because we all hope that she’ll continue to provide some institutional knowledge and perspective on things that are going on in the city. But I did want to thank her again for her years in the Planning Department and prior to that.”
The Council set the stage for opening up the office campuses along Westchester Avenue for new development to supplement the campuns office properties currently suffering from a high vacancy rate.
They approved a Campus Office District mixed-use zoning change allowing housing, scientific uses, research and limited retail use. Each property owner would be required to submit a unique “overlay” master plan for their properties subject to approval by the Common Council. Mayor Thomas Roach told the public “we already have committals,” without elaborating.
The Common Council approved hearings to receive public input on the Open Space Recreational Ordinance setting requirements for privately owned golf course properties in the city for September 4. Councilpersons urged residents to come out and make their views known on the ordinance. Gwo consecuive public hearings on the French American School of New York project to build a school campus on the former Ridgeway Country Club were also approved for September 19, 7 PM and October 17, also at 7 PM.
Councilman Benjamin Boykin said the setting of the public hearing was merely accepting the Draft Environmental Impact Statement as complete, and “didn’t necessarily mean we (the council) agreed with them.” Boykin said now it was the public’s turn to comment and that the council would hear input on the project “for as long as it takes,” and would be thorough.
The council also approved the first step in the ongoing Winbrook Revitalization Project, approving a 10-story building,housing an Educ ation Center , which will be built first, however funding is only available for the first floor housing the education center on the first floor. The city is funding $1.5 Million of the project and the Housing and Urban Development, $3,500,000 as of this spring.
Wednesday after the Housing and Urban Development press office in New York confirmed to WPCNR, HUD is still funding the $3.5 Million “only for the education facility,” the spokesman explained.
During the hearing on the Winbrook project, William Null, the attorney for the enterprise said in response to a question by Council President Beth Smayda that plans for subsequent buildings in the project would be submitted on a project-by-project basis and built individually according to the individual’s financial model, and not as part of a connected project. Design, Null said would depend on whom the Housing Authority was working with to develop each building in the future, so, Null suggested that it was somewhat impossible to present the kind of comprehensive plan that Smayda suggested.
Smayda asked about the amount key finding agencies the Housing Authority was providing. The architect for the project stepped up to say that the Authority had not applied for the financing yet, because it needed tonight’s approval to do so and would be applying to state agencies for tax credit financing after approval.
The Housing and Urban Development agency in Washington told the authority in the spring of this year, its funds were no longer available for financing the entire project.TO read that story click on http://whiteplainscnr.com/article9115.html
Smayda expressed concern about a future environmental review of the effect on the infrastructure of the city since the Environmental Officer of the City had requested one. Null said that since the entire project was replacing what was already there, it was the Housing Authority position that a new environmental review was not necessary, but the Authority was willing to consider it.
It also became clear that the first building setting the tone for the project would be made up exclusively of present Winbrook residents. Milagros Lecuona, the Councilwoman, emphasized that she wanted the project (as it was originally envisioned) to be mixed income. Mack Carter, Executive Director of the Housing Authority stepped up and said that the first building is now being financed hopefully as a tax credit project which required that the building be low and moderate income housing only similar to present Winbrook Housing tenant income levels and that mixed income levels could not be accommodated, though incomes would vary in the building based on Winbrook tenants moving in (when the residential portion of the building is completed, which still has to be financed).
Smayda asked if co-op or condominium ownership would be available. Null said that they are not prohibited from that, but it is not being considered at this time.
Outdoor dining was approved for Esposito’s Restaurant on a rooftop deck, and outdoor patio dining was approved for Noodles Restaurant.
The Council authorized the purchase of a third one-man garbage truck for $250,000 and 100,000 containers to go with the truck. Councilman John Martin and Council President Beth Smayda lauded the one-arm, one-man truck system of collecting garbage as a money-saving long-term move.
However to date the Common Council and the Department of Public Works have not said how much savings the new truck system in effect with the first in-service truck have achieved in dollars or how long it will be before the trucks payout in savings long-term. There has been talk about saving costs on labor but how that saving is achieved (other than reassignment of personnel) has not been defined. The truck in service has mainly been a “neat” thing.
The Council also voted to purchase 200 Westchester Avenue for $500,000.
