WPCNR  ZONING ZEN. By John F. Bailey, October 1, 2008: The Zoning Board of Appeals tonight approved Renamba LLC’s application for a variance to build an Assisted Living facility of 115 units in the pristine wilds of Saxon Woods along side the Mamaroneck River.  The vote was 4 to 1  rejecting former Building Commissioner Mike Gismondi’s  interpretation of the zoning ordinance and the City of White Plains 8-year history of opposition to the project that has stood for almost a decade. The reason given was that the city stood to be violating Fair Housing law which prohibited restricting "reasonable use."

 A Buzz in the Rotunda: Renamba Group foreground, in cordial, confident triumph, while residents of Saxon Woods mill about  in the shadow of the Legal Department in background, in rotunda of City Hall in stunned disbelief at the zippy Zoning approval. Unofficial city records indicate it was the swiftest approval ever.

The 4-1 approval was executed  at the top of the agenda swiftly. Very swiftly. The meeting must have started at the second the big clock in the Council Chambers struck 7 PM and took 6 minutes. (Yours truly arrived at 7 on the nose by our ZULU TIME synchronized watch and it had started.)

Tonight’s decision clears the way for construction of the 115-unit 3 story apartment complex on Village of Scarsdale property, allowing access through a 25 foot variance paralleling  the Ethical Culture Society driveway entrance off Saxon Woods Road.

Cecilia Bikkal, the Chairperson of the Zoning Board made a brief statement after tonight’s vote saying that permitted uses of the property in question in the White Plains section of the property included similar types of structures that generated large volumes of traffic.  

She said that the White Plains  R1-12.5 zone permits  building a school, church, or hospital on the property,owned by The Ethical Culture Society of Westchester, and the property is “allowed reasonable” use of the property. She said that prohibiting left turns  onto Saxon Woods Road departing the Ethical Culture Society driveway, and prohibiting left turns out of Saxon Woods Road onto Mamaroneck Avenue Northbound, adding shrubbery and noise screening, “was the best the zoning board could do.” 

WPCNR arrived at 7 sharp,  coming in at the midpoint through ZBA member Michael Romar’s explanation of the Zoning Board’s decision which was not immediately available to the media.

 Mr. Romar’s statement indicated that the Zoning Board of Appeals based its decision on the Fair Housing Law which permits “reasonable use” of property.  Michael Turschmann, an attorney who has submitted two lengthy opposition letters on why the ZBA could safely reject the proposal based on previous court decisons,  said  in his opinion, the ZBA use of the Fair Housing Law was being stretched here because the Fair Housing Law he said applied to preserving residential homes, not the building of institutions.

Silence from the ZBA

At its September meeting on this project,  the Zoning Board was all over the proposal, Brian Keating particularly asking the applicant to explore another entrance off Mamaroneck Avenue through the Saxon Woods Pool property. The Planning Board voted  4 to 1 in August saying it had no objection to the project. Tonight the Zoning Board quietly approved the project without hearing any exploration of the Saxon Pool entrance possibility in public by the applicant.

The Common Council has not shown any interest in weighing in on this  project which will change the character of the Saxon Woods, and create an as yet, unknown increased flow of traffic at the Saxon Woods Road/Mamaroneck Avenue interchange throughout the day.

Ready to Go:Amba Sharma, the Manager of the project, told WPCNR, he already had $30 Million in financing to build the project, and he was applying for Building Permits shortly.  Sharma said the complex-to-be had utilities cleared, (White Plains had previously threatened to withhold water service to the project to prevent its construction). There were no further obstacles to be overcome.Mr. Sharma did not have a date for construction to begin, but promised to invite the press to the ground-breaking.

The decision tonight brings to a close an eight year saga.

One Saxon Woods resident said, “I’m very disappointed.”

The Gismondi Doctrine Dies.

Previously the former White Plains Commissioner of Building, Michael Gismondi, in 2001 had rejected the project request for the use of the Ethical Culture Society drive on the grounds that Section 3.5.1 of the Zoning Code where a lot spans a boundary of either a district, or in this case, a municipality, a use permitted in one district or municipality(Scarsdale) can not extend into another White Plains district unless it is otherwise permitted in that district.

In the September  ZBA episode, when the hearing was extended to tonight, Renamba argued the definition of “Use” in the White Plains Zoning Code did not apply to driveways. Renamba’s attorney argued that since the driveway was not included within the definition of “Structure” in the Zoning Ordinance, a driveway was not a “Use” and therefore not regulated by 3.5.1.

Mr. Sharma did not have a date for construction to begin, but promised to invite the press to the ground-breaking.

We Don't Want to Hear It.

 None of the dozen or so residents in opposition to the variance from Saxon Woods was allowed to speak, as Chairperson Cecelia Bikkal instantly moved to item two on the docket.   One of the leaders opposing the plan arrived at 7:06 within seconds after the matter was voted on.