White Plains Council To Decide Whether to Extend Moratorium Again

A public hearing will be held on May 14, on a local law that would extend a on land use approvals in certain areas of White Plains by an additional four months, through Sept. 17.

“I have a growing concern that this moratorium has outlived its usefulness,” said Councilman John Martin, at a special White Plains Common Council meeting Monday. “I’m concerned about extending this.”

The moratorium—known as the “2011 Interim Development Moratorium Law”—affects non-city or school district owned parcels in the R1-12.5 and R1-30 zoning districts listed as parkland in the City’s comprehensive plan. Enacted in April 2011, the moratorium was originally set to expire on Oct. 17, 2011, but the council until May 17, 2012.

The Council voted to implement a moratorium to study the City’s comprehensive plan, zoning, environmental and other land use regulations to see whether upgrades are necessary. As a result of the study, the City is proposing to amend current zoning, land use and other regulations, along with implementing a new zoning district, called the (OSRED).

Click here for a background story on the moratorium, and here for a background on the OSRED.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone everyday with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

Habel explained that the City and are almost finished with the state mandated draft generic environmental impact statement (DGEIS)—which determines whether the proposed zoning changes would have an adverse impact on the environment.

Though the City can complete the DGEIS process without having a moratorium in place—Habel said that the City would not be able to complete the DGEIS and hold the required public hearings before the moratorium expires on May 17. 

“It’s [the completion of the DGEIS] taking the amount of time that it is because we are dealing with five very large properties,” said Planning Department Commissioner Susan Habel, at the meeting. “It’s a tremendous amount of work that’s been done.”

The DGEIS includes a traffic analysis of 31 intersections and a gap analysis at five locations, along with a study of potential land use, environmental, traffic, visiual, socio-economic and community impacts on the affected and surrounding properties.

“We also have to look at what would happen if the site was developed under the existing zoning and alternatives,” said Habel.

Martin said that he has heard from at least one property owner who has tried to make small changes to its site, but was complicated by the moratorium. Representatives from , whose properties are within the moratorium’s guidelines, have both previously expressed their opposition to extending the moratorium.  

“The moratorium in place now is very very broad and probably needed to be from its inception—but when you take a look at it, it covers everything. Even something simple as a routine building permit,” said Martin. “My concern is the breadth of the moratorium. It’s just too much at this point. We are at the very end of our own DEIS work on the zoning changes, and I don’t think it [the moratorium] needs to be that broad anymore. If there’s something that can be changed at this point, I think we should be changing it [the moratorium] or not extending it.”

Habel said the city could revoke the moratorium, or keep it in place while limiting to the scope of the moratorium (for example, allowing building permits or solar energy panels) or eliminating certain parcels affected by the moratorium.

In regards to the DEGIS—once the council determines that the DGEIS is complete, public hearings and a public comment session must be held before the council can consider whether to move forward with the process.

After that period—the council, who is the Lead Agency, will determine whether or not a final GEIS (FGEIS) is necessary, before adopting a findings statement. The City could withdraw the proposed action, which would leave no reason to have a FGEIS prepared.

The City can also determine that the proposal zoning changes will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment, and give a negative declaration as a findings statement. The City can’t approve any zoning changes or amendments subject to the moratorium until it determines that the environmental review process is complete with an FGEIS and a findings statement, or determination that an FEIS isn’t necessary.

A complete review and public comment/hearing period on the DGEIS should take a few months. 

Like us on  Facebook  (facebook.com/WhitePlainsPatch) and follow us on  Twitter (twitter.com/WhtPlainsPatch)