Open Door Drops Application to Move its Sleepy Hollow Clinic

Open Door Family Medical Center has withdrawn its applications from the Zoning and Planning Boards in Sleepy Hollow.

Their long-term battle to get approvals from the village and their neighbors to move into the building they already own at 300 North Broadway was suddenly dropped as the news emerged that the original use for the building does not allow a medical practice to operate there.

All is not lost, as Open Door could still request a change of use to accomodate their plans to move from their current and cramped home on Beekman Avenue. After meeting with problems at every unresolved step of this process, it is uncertain however what their next step will be.

The health center also has clinics in Ossining, Mount Kisco and Port Chester. It was founded to provide access to health care to those who could not afford doctors, many of whom were without any access or using hospital emergency rooms for primary care. Its services are available to all, using a sliding fee based on income level. 

Open Door CEO Lindsay Farrell was unavailable for comment today as was the Building Department's Sean McCarthy.

The news of their withdrawal comes shortly after the latest round of affidavits submitted to the Zoning Board of Appeals by Farrell and Adler Consulting firm at the last board meeting on March 27.

These letters address mainly the crossing guard issue and the reality of the growing patronage of the facility and the extent to which they would actually walk there.

Adler Consulting’s letter said that Open Door had offered to reimburse the village for the cost of a crossing guard to alleviate pedestrian safety concerns at the intersection of North and New Broadway. The had board declined. Here is footage of Mayor Ken Wray talking about his own objections to the idea of a crossing guard here.

Adler, here represented by Michael Rourke, attests that having no guard would not affect their traffic analysis, the full findings of which can be read here.

On the same day, Farrell submitted a letter addressing concerns about the center attracting a wider regional audience in their new space, and one that would drive there.

She said their current patient base is about 4,000 and they’ve anticipated their new space would serve 5,400 with the capacity to serve up to 5,600. They thus expect their numbers could grow 1,600, a figure which certainly set off alarms for neighbors and planners alike.

Farrell said she expected the increase would only come from Sleepy and Tarrytown, residents who might now travel to Ossining Open Door for special needs the Beekman facility can't fulfill. Ossining offers obstetric, gynecological and dental services for which people travel, usually by bus, said Farrell. In the new facility, these people could get their needs met here.

“We believe there is an unmet need in our service area that we will be better able to serve in our expanded office,” she wrote.

Farrell said she knew from Open Door's 27-year experience in Sleepy Hollow and their 40 years in similar communities, that their clientele does indeed walk. In studies done on two separate work days, Adler found that 70 percent of the clients walk to the facility. Even if the facility was further away from their homes, these clients would continue to walk as this is part of their lifestyle and economic situation, Farrell said.

The majority of these clients “have extraordinarily limited financial means,” Farrell said. Most of their money goes to rent, with the remainder for feeding their family and supplying clothing and medical need – all on a salary, for a family of four, of $23,550.

“It’s a luxury to own a car,” she said. These low-income clients will walk a mile if necessary, she said, to do what it takes to it takes to care for their families.

For his part, McCarthy, in a letter also reviewed at the March 27 meeting, said that prior to the purchase of the property, Open Door officials had not met with his department, “except for confirmation of the permitted office use in the C-1 Highway Commercial District.”

“The statement that the Village didn’t indicate to Ms. Farrell that the application to Open Door facility to 1 New Broadway would be controversial is not accurate,” he wrote. 

Meanwhile, notes McCarthy, they could have had more renovated space right where they are. Expanding their current Beekman building usage to the second floor, with a new elevator, was not only possible all along, he said, but within their lease agreement. 

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