WPCNR City Hall Insider. By John F. Bailey. September 26, 2004. Updated 10:45 P.M. E.D.T.: Contrary to what the Common Council was lead to believe at its Special Meeting last Thursday evening, by Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel, not all of the city review boards and commissioners are in favor of extending of the 2002-approved site plan authorizing the New York Presbyterian Hospital to build a proton accelerator/biomedical research complex in the middle of its property in White Plains.

The Conservation Board has sent a letter to the Planning Department strongly opposing the granting of the extension. Two councilpersons who have responded to WPCNR have said they have not yet received this letter, or any information as to its contents.

In the letter, the Board expresses fear the planned proton accelerator will not be funded, and approval of the extension may lead to developing the site for other uses. Developers in White Plains have shown they have tendencies to change the character, size and purposes of projects after they have been approved. The Conservation Board fears this may happen to the site in the site plan approval is extended. (No construction has begun on the project, according to Ms. Habel, because of the restrictions and conditions the Common Council has put on the project.)

Delivered Wednesday to Planning Department.

The Conservation Board position, expressed in a letter delivered to the Planning Board, Wednesday, September 22,  the day before the September 23 meeting, and  was not relayed to the Common Council in the Thursday evening meeting by the Commisioner of Planning. Documents such as this are routinely included in the "backup" material for the Common Council meeting when the Common Council votes on the matter before it. Councilpersons have complained bitterly in the past, (William King), that the material does not arrive in enough time before the Council has to vote on the matter.

No objections to extension Habel said.

Ms Habel lead the council to believe throughout the portion of the meeting devoted to the site plan extension discussion that all the commissioners and review boards and departments asked for comment felt conditions had not changed substantially from when the project was approved, and that the site plan should be extended.

Tom Roach, President of the Common Council, still had not received the Conservation Board letter as of Sunday at 1:00 P.M.

The Conservation Board says No Way.

The Conservation Board comments in the letter,  that development has changed the city substantially since the August ,2002, original approval. The letter, obtained by WPCNR, says that,

“Since the August 5, 2002 Resolution was adopted, the City has seen numerous areas of developments including City Center, Bank Street, Clayton Park, development at 221 Main Street and many others.

This Board has great concerns regarding the cumulative impact of these developments as well as the proposed Hospital Development.

These developments will impact the quality of life of White Plains residents, the quality of the air we breathe, noise, automobile emissions, pedestrian safety, and traffic.

The visual impact of this project alone would cause a disruptive and irreparable effect on the natural beauty of the site and  greatly reduce the amount of passive green space in the heart of this city.”

Questions Proton Accelerator As Presently Specked

The letter notes that constructing the proton accelerator facility would be “very expensive,” that “number of successful treatments as compared to patients treated is dismally small” and states the federal funding “for this type of project is virtually impossible to obtain.” 

(Editor’s Note: the comment about number of successful treatments is a matter of controversy, however. The Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland,  system, a newly designed, compact, more accurate and powerful proton accelerator system, that has been selected by a clinic in Munich reports an 85% tumour-stop rate.  The PSI  compact proton accelerator is reporting treatment of 166 patients for tumours since 1996 at the basis of the skull, the pelvis and the prostate, and in 85% of the cases, the tumour growth was stopped.)

However, the concern about the treatment ratio is ancillary to the Conservation Board’s salient point which worries that the New York Presbyterian Hospital will change the project as approved: 

“we are concerned that this project, as proposed, may not be economicably feasible and continued approval may eventually result in significantly different structures and uses.”

The letter concludes with no equivocation on the matter that would lead any one to think that the Conservation Board had reservations, but was waiving them:

“On August 20, 2003, this Board recommended that a one-year extension for this project not be granted.

Again, this year White Plains has the opportunity to reject the application for a one-year extension of the August 2002 Resolution. This Board supports the rejection of this application.”

Why would Ms. Habel Not Mention the Conservation Board position.

Contacted by WPCNR, the Chairman of the Conservation Board, Bob Roston, said the Commissioner of Planning should have known the Conservation Board position before going into the meeting, because the Deputy Commissioner of Planning, Rod Johnson, is Secretary to the Conservation Board.

Roston said the letter was sent to the City Planning Department Wednesday, which types it up and sends it to the Legal Department, and then the letter is sent to the Mayor and Common Council.

As of Sunday at noon, Tom Roach, the President of the Common Council said he had not received the letter. Councilman Benjam Boykin and Councilwoman Rita Malmud were contacted and messages left to see whether the Common Council has been informed of the letter content, but it being Sunday, they were not available to take the call.

Malmud: No information on this subject as of Sunday Evening.

Councilwoman Malmud got back to WPCNR Sunday night and verified that she, too had not received the Conservation Board position letter, either. She wrote WPCNR:

"As of Sunday night, 10:30pm, Sept 26, I have not received any Conservation Board letter about NYH within the past several weeks.  Your phone call was the first info I had on this subject."