Cities revamp development plans - Westfair Communications

2010_0117newroch_jg0006 — New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson and the city”™s development Commissioner Michael Freimuth at the Avalon Bay tower, overlooking downtown New Rochelle. Credit: John Golden

As developers increasingly call for a more proactive approach to planning and zoning, three of Westchester”™s biggest cities are at various stages of amending their respective comprehensive plans to address shifts in demand and demographics.

Leading the way is Mount Vernon, which on Dec. 13 unveiled its first new comprehensive plan since 1968. Mayor Clinton I. Young called the effort, which began in February 2009, “pivotal to the city”™s positive progress and success.”

Included in the plan are the identification of six key planning themes for the city, the establishment of several planning intensity areas within the city, the creation of specific actions to guide future development and additional guidance for any planning and zoning actions.

Also preparing to begin assessments of their respective plans are the cities of White Plains and New Rochelle, although neither is likely to take action before 2012 at the earliest.

Transit-oriented, mixed-use developments

In New Rochelle, where the comprehensive plan was last updated 15 years ago, the city is close to launching a steering committee that will govern the process of developing a new plan.

Commissioner of Development Michael Freimuth said it is high time for the plan to be updated, adding ideally it should be looked at every five to 10 years.

Following the launching of the steering committee, Freimuth said, the entire process will likely take 18 to 24 months and will focus on transit-oriented and mixed-use developments in addition to the city”™s retail corridors and waterfront areas.

White Plains officials have not officially announced the development of a new comprehensive plan, but Planning Commissioner Susan Habel said her department is assembling the necessary background information to commence a citywide revision.

In the meantime, the city is working on a modernization plan for the Post Road corridor, which Habel said is likely the least-developed of the four major corridors that lead into downtown White Plains.

As planning commissioner, Habel said her focus is on areas ripe for new developments and on others that are in need of re-development. The Post Road corridor, she said, is the latter.

“So that is a priority to address from a planning perspective,” she said, adding that some questions to consider include what to do with the land along Post Road formerly occupied by auto dealerships and how to redevelop the area without disturbing the residential communities in the vicinity.

Community support ”˜essential”™

At a land use and development conference hosted by Pace Law School earlier this month, several of the speakers lamented that comprehensive plans and town zoning laws are often used to stall, rather than promote, development.

“Development shouldn”™t be a dirty word and I think it tends to be,” said Tiffany Zezula, managing director of the law school”™s Land Use Law Center.

Zezula and more than a few of those in attendance commented on the need for residents and developers to be on the same page.

“Community buy-in is essential for developers,” she said.

Freimuth acknowledged that some cities and towns often revise their planning protocols to block a particular type of development, but said that is not the approach being taken by New Rochelle.

“That”™s the conundrum of all New York: the comprehensive plan or SEQRA process is often used as a barrier as opposed to being a facilitator,” he said. “We see it more as a guiding tool than one that says ”˜no.”™ There are areas where frankly, we”™re built out. There are areas where we”™re underdeveloped. The challenge is to take the market that we”™re given and to channel it to those areas of opportunity.”

In White Plains, the current comprehensive plan dates to 1997 and was last updated in 2006. Habel said the next step is to update the plan so it accounts for demographic changes uncovered by the 2010 Census and for relatively new developments such as the City Center that reflect the changing demands of the city”™s residents.

“Now we have the Census data that really gives us the detailed information on the transformation of so much of our downtown,” she said.

“We built over 2,000 housing units in the downtown, so obviously that”™s had a tremendous impact on the commercial and residential character.”