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STATE OF NEW YORK CITY OF YONKERS

------X Minutes of The City of Yonkers Zoning Board of Appeals September 23, 2008 - 6:15 p.m. at City Hall 87 Nepperhan Avenue Yonkers, New York 10701-3892 ------X

B E F O R E: JOSEPH CIANCIULLI, Chairperson JAMES BLANCHARD, Member DIANE PEARSON, Member NANCY LITTLE, Member LEVAR BURKE, Member SAMUEL SINGH, Member ANTHONY LANDI, Member LEE ELLMAN, Planning ALAIN NATCHEV, Assistant Corporation Counsel

DOUGLASS REPORTING COMPANY 50 Main Street White Plains, New York 10606 (914) 946-1059 Page 2 1 Proceedings 2 MR. CIANCIULLI: Ladies and 3 gentlemen, can I have your attention, 4 please. You want to take a seat, 5 please? Thank you. 6 The September 23rd, 2008 Zoning 7 Board of Appeals public hearing is now 8 in session. Will the members introduce 9 themselves. Ms. Pearson. 10 MS. PEARSON: Diane Pearson. 11 MR. LANDI: Anthony Landi. 12 MS. LITTLE: Nancy Little. 13 MR. SINGH: Samuel Singh. 14 MR. BLANCHARD: James Blanchard. 15 MR. CIANCIULLI: I am Joseph 16 Cianciulli. I am Chairman of the Board 17 and I think Mr. Burke is going to be 18 late tonight. Would everybody please 19 stand for the pledge of allegiance by 20 Bill Schneider. 21 (Pledge of allegiance). 22 MR. CIANCIULLI: Please be seated. 23 This room is a tough room. We don't 24 have any microphones. We don't have 25 anything, no air conditioning, but we Page 3 1 Proceedings 2 got heat, yes, we do, but anyway, we 3 don't allow any talking in chambers so 4 I am going ask you to go outside if you 5 want to talk. If you have a cell 6 phone, put it on vibrate because if it 7 goes off, it's going to come up here 8 and it's going to go home with Mr. 9 Landi. 10 There is two cases here tonight, 11 both continued hearings. One relates 12 to 56 Warburton Avenue, and one relates 13 to the Cross County Center. 14 The first case for tonight will be 15 the 5053 area variance. Mr. Delbello 16 on behalf of 54 also known as 56 17 Warburton Avenue, Block: 2017; Lot: 24; 18 in the CBD zone. CBD stands for 19 Central Business District. 20 I am not going to read the whole 21 thing, Mr. Delbello, is that okay with 22 you. 23 MR. DELBELLO: Yes, that's fine. 24 MR. CIANCIULLI: Anybody here 25 tonight want me to read the whole Page 4 1 Proceedings 2 thing? Is everybody comfortable the 3 way it is? 4 Mr. Delbello, introduce yourself, 5 please. 6 MR. DELBELLO: Alfred Delbello. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: I failed to do 8 one very important thing. On my right 9 is the Building Commissioner, Richard 10 Schneider. On my left is Corporation 11 Counsel who represents the Board, Alain 12 Natchev. To my far left is the 13 Commissioner of Planning, we have Lee 14 Ellman. Mr. Delbello. 15 MR. DELBELLO: I am Al Delbello 16 from Delbello, Donnellan, Weingarten, 17 Wise and Wiederkehr, attorneys for the 18 applicant. 19 We have been before your Board on 20 this matter a number of times. 21 MR. CIANCIULLI: Let me ask you, 22 everybody has been notified? 23 MR. DELBELLO: Yes, they have. 24 MR. CIANCIULLI: Were there any 25 returns? Page 5 1 Proceedings 2 MR. DELBELLO: Three were 3 returned, Mr. Chairman. 4 MR. CIANCIULLI: Is there anybody 5 here tonight on this case? This case 6 is on Warburton Avenue between Manor 7 House Square and North Broadway and 8 anybody here tonight on this case? All 9 right, we can take some of the people 10 up here so you can hear better if you 11 want to come up. You can sit over here 12 or sit over here, wherever you want to. 13 Thank you. 14 Mr. Delbello, would you explain to 15 us about the project, please. 16 MR. DELBELLO: Thank you, Mr. 17 Chairman. We have with us this 18 evening-- this is, as you know, a 19 project that is being sponsored by the 20 Greystone Foundation. With us this 21 evening is Steve Brown, the President 22 of Greystone, along with Shelley 23 Weintraub who is Vice President in 24 charge of the real estate division. 25 We also have our architects and Page 6 1 Proceedings 2 our engineers, traffic people and 3 anybody necessary to respond to your 4 questions. 5 As you know, when first presented, 6 this was a 16 story building. It's a 7 work force affordable building designed 8 for affordable rentals, I am sorry, 9 home ownership, affordable for sale 10 property. 11 It was originally 16 stories. We 12 reduced it to 12. It was originally 13 108 families, we reduced it to 105. We 14 are before you looking for a number of 15 variances, the most significant is a 16 parking variance at a 31 car parking 17 variance, an area variance, variances 18 dealing with our loading docks, all of 19 which we have gone through with you in 20 some detail in the past, so rather than 21 taking your time and re-presenting each 22 of those features, I would rather open 23 these up to questions. 24 We have the people who can respond 25 to the questions. We have a power Page 7 1 Proceedings 2 point presentation in case there are 3 any issues that you want to see 4 visualized, we'll be able to present 5 that for you, but other than that, Mr. 6 Chairman, we'll take your questions. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: I just want to 8 clarify something. You are required 9 that 50 foot is the most height you 10 have, you are going for 121, that is 71 11 feet higher than you are allowed to go, 12 okay, you say 150 foot it was 13 originally, has nothing to do with the 14 case. The required space, 180, you 15 have 151. I want to get that in the 16 record, okay. 17 MR. DELBELLO: Yes, Mr. Chairman. 18 MR. CIANCIULLI: Thank you. 19 Mainly the height of the building, I am 20 concerned about that. You have a 21 shadow study in here and I see the 22 shadow study. Basically you are saying 23 this is the shadow study you had 24 originally? 25 MR. DELBELLO: We had refined it Page 8 1 Proceedings 2 somewhat and we'll be able to show that 3 to you if you want to see that. 4 What we have done is, we have 5 developed a shadow study that shows you 6 how the shadows are today, the existing 7 buildings, and what the difference 8 would be with the new buildings, and 9 for that purpose, Stuart Lachs, the 10 architect, is here, and he can go 11 through that in some detail for you, if 12 you would desire. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: Well, that's 14 fine, you can bring that gentleman up, 15 that's fine. 16 MR. DELBELLO: Stuart. 17 MR. CIANCIULLI: If you want to 18 put something up, Mr. Delbello, about 19 the shadows, that is fine. Mr. Landi 20 brought up we approved the minutes from 21 the June 26th meeting, just to make 22 sure I make a motion to approve the 23 minutes from the June 26th meeting. Do 24 I have a second? 25 MR. LANDI: I have two corrections Page 9 1 Proceedings 2 to make, please. 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: Sure. 4 MR. LANDI: Page 87 line 8, 1001 5 should read 101, and page 95 line 10, 6 Sierra, should read SEQRA. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: As amended, I 8 make a motion. Do I have a second? 9 MS. LITTLE: Second. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: Everyone on the 11 motion say aye. 12 (A chorus of ayes.) 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: Opposed? Passes. 14 I want to continue with something 15 else. 16 MR. DELBELLO: I think we would 17 rather get into this right now, again, 18 unless you have other questions. 19 Are you ready, Stuart? 20 MR. LACHS: Almost. 21 MR. DELBELLO: Almost? Okay. 22 Any other questions we can respond 23 to, we can do that now. 24 MR. CIANCIULLI: I think what 25 we'll do, we'll wait for this gentleman Page 10 1 Proceedings 2 because the other questions have to do 3 with traffic and some other things. Do 4 you have traffic people with you 5 tonight? 6 MR. DELBELLO: Our traffic 7 engineer is not here, but BJF is here 8 and they have the information necessary 9 to respond. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: Are you all set, 11 young fellow? 12 MR. LACHS: Almost. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: If not, we can 14 come back to you. I don't want to 15 waste any more time here. 16 Mr. Delbello, we'll let this 17 gentleman get started. We will go to 18 something else. 19 Manor Hall, okay, it's a little 20 bit of a fragile building, at least 21 they think it could be. I don't know 22 what measures you are proposing to 23 protect the building from construction 24 of your building, and the same question 25 for the adjacent buildings. You want Page 11 1 Proceedings 2 to answer that, please? 3 MR. DELBELLO: Yes. Stuart, I 4 think you will be needed to respond to 5 that. 6 MR. LACHS: Okay. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: You want to do 8 this one first? 9 MR. LACHS: Either one, sir. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: You tell me what 11 you want to do. 12 MR. DELBELLO: Is it coming up? 13 MR. LACHS: Yes. 14 MR. DELBELLO: Okay. There are 15 the shadows. 16 MR. CIANCIULLI: Are you an 17 attorney, sir? 18 MR. LACHS: No, sir. 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: Raise your right 20 hand. You solemnly swear to tell the 21 truth the whole truth and nothing but 22 the truth so help you God? 23 MR. LACHS: I do. Stuart Lachs, 24 L-A-C-H-S, Perkins-Eastman, 422 Summer 25 Street, Stamford Connecticut, 06901. Page 12 1 Proceedings 2 MR. CIANCIULLI: Mr. Lachs, this 3 is what you're showing us now, is this 4 in the book? What page in the manual 5 that you gave us? 6 MR. LACHS: It's in two sections 7 in the book, Attachment A. 8 MR. CIANCIULLI: Keep on following 9 the pages, or you want me to follow 10 that? 11 MR. LACHS: This might be easier 12 to read. 13 We made two changes to the 14 diagrams to increase their readability 15 from what was in the book. The first 16 is, we turned off the background 17 photograph and put in the streets so 18 that the shadows read a little clearer, 19 and we have added this line so you can 20 see through the series of slides that 21 represents the shadows of the existing 22 buildings so you can get a sense of the 23 change in shadows. 24 MR. DELBELLO: Stuart, point out 25 the streets so he can identify the Page 13 1 Proceedings 2 building, north, south. 3 MR. LACHS: This is Warburton 4 Avenue, Manor House Square, North 5 Broadway and Wells Avenue, and this 6 represents the Greystone property both 7 on the Warburton and on North Broadway, 8 so it's a sequence of shadows done at 9 four times during the year, March, 10 which would be the spring equinox, 11 June, the sun's highest point in the 12 year, September, which we just went 13 through this week which is the tunnel 14 equinox, and then December 21st, the 15 sun at its lowest point in the year, to 16 give you sort of the shadows at the 17 four points. 18 So this is morning in March. This 19 would be noon at that time, and again, 20 the line here representing the existing 21 shadows, and then this is the shadow 22 for the proposed tower. 23 MR. CIANCIULLI: Whenever you flip 24 the page, you flip the film, point out 25 Philipse Manor to us. Page 14 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LACHS: Philipse Manor is in 3 this spot and it will be there. As we 4 go through each page I will show you. 5 So this is the afternoon in March 6 shortly before sunset, then in June, 7 this would be the morning sun in June, 8 and then again Philipse Manor Hall, the 9 shadows along Warburton, these being 10 the shadows of the existing building 11 continuing up, and this is the shadow 12 of the proposed tower. This is noon in 13 June, and again the existing and close 14 shadows on the map. 15 This is the late afternoon sun in 16 June. This would be September, 17 actually very close to this time of 18 year. 19 The shadows, you will note that 20 the shadows from the existing buildings 21 at the southern end of Warburton are 22 extending onto the Manor Hall property, 23 but the shadows from the post tower 24 extend only to the parking lot. 25 Noon in September and then late Page 15 1 Proceedings 2 afternoon in September, the shadows 3 extending out. This is December, sun 4 very low in the sky, so in general, 5 shadows extending far across and really 6 extending. 7 We did not put the line of the 8 existing shadows for the existing 9 buildings. The shadows extend well 10 across Warburton. This is the morning 11 sun in December, midday sun in 12 December, and then the late afternoon 13 sun. 14 Again, here is Manor House Square, 15 and you can see the Philipse Manor 16 House and you can see the shadows of 17 Philipse Manor House are extending over 18 onto the Greystone, so those are the 19 shadow diagrams that we thought you 20 might be interested in. 21 MR. CIANCIULLI: Thank you. Once 22 again, just point out to us the visual 23 impacts in the historic district. 24 MR. LACHS: These photographs or 25 these diagrams are in the EIF, sir. Page 16 1 Proceedings 2 This is the view looking west from 3 Cromwell Place, and I will just point 4 out that it's approximately this view, 5 this view, and you can see a sliver of 6 the building from Cromwell Place 7 looking west, and this is Baldwin Place 8 looking west, Cromwell and Baldwin. 9 This is the building itself, and 10 then again the southern end of the 11 building is just approaching here on 12 the view. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: Do you think you 14 will be blocking the views of the 15 residents on the back of Warburton? 16 MR. LACHS: I can't say for sure, 17 sir. There are a number of -- there 18 are trees and growths there in some of 19 those properties backyards, so I don't 20 know how much of the view is of our 21 building and how much, you know, is 22 presently blocked with things between 23 our building and those houses. 24 MR. CIANCIULLI: Excuse me. For 25 the benefit of the people that came in Page 17 1 Proceedings 2 late, I don't allow talking in the 3 chamber. If you are going to talk, go 4 outside. If you have a cell phone, 5 turn it off. It will come up to me if 6 I hear it go off. Put it on buzz. I 7 am very strict on that talking. 8 Mr. Delbello and Mr. Lachs, I am 9 interested in the shadows. Explain to 10 the Board the general standards for the 11 impact shadows on public places and 12 parks. 13 Mr. Lachs. 14 MR. DELBELLO: Standards, Mr. 15 Chairman? 16 MR. CIANCIULLI: That's right, 17 general standards for impacts of 18 shadows on public places and public 19 parks. 20 MR. DELBELLO: Right now I think 21 we have demonstrated that the shadows 22 that are cast by this building at 23 various times during the year do not 24 fall upon any of the public lands. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: How do you get Page 18 1 Proceedings 2 these standards? What are the general 3 standards? 4 MR. DELBELLO: How is that 5 developed? You can describe how you 6 develop the shadow standards. 7 MR. LACHS: We used a computer 8 program called Sketch Up and modeled 9 the buildings, both the proposed 10 building and the surrounding 11 neighborhood in 3-D space in this 12 program, including the contours of that 13 section of the city, and using this 14 software package, we were able to 15 recreate, we were able to assign to the 16 project to the computer model, the 17 exact latitude and longitude of the 18 project site and then enter into the 19 program the different times of day 20 during the year that we wanted the 21 shadows produced for, and the computer 22 then creates the images with the 23 shadows of that time of day and 24 location and time of year. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: Public places and Page 19 1 Proceedings 2 parks, we have some public places 3 there, is that what you are basing your 4 study on? We have Philipse Manor which 5 is public. 6 MR. LACHS: Correct. 7 MR. DELBELLO: That's the only 8 public space there, Mr. Chairman, 9 outside of roads, obviously. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: Okay. We might 11 come back to this in a second. Are 12 there any ways to lessen the visual 13 impacts on the shadows, the visual 14 impacts on Philipsburgh Manor, the 15 surrounding area? 16 MR. LACHS: I guess our original 17 submission of a year ago called for a 18 taller slender building which would 19 have -- 20 MR. CIANCIULLI: Time out. I am 21 not going to get into that, okay, 22 that's a dead case. I told Mr. 23 Delbello a couple of minutes ago. You 24 can tell me you were going to build a 25 thousand foot building, it's not Page 20 1 Proceedings 2 relevant. You are asking for a 71 foot 3 walk allowed by code, so forget about 4 the 150 foot that you had before 5 because I don't want to hear it, out of 6 the question. It's a subterfuge. 7 Answer the question. You can 8 still make it 50 feet and then you 9 don't have these problems. 10 MR. LACHS: Correct. 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: Okay, so don't 12 bring it up again. 13 MR. LACHS: Okay. 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: Anything else you 15 want to comment on it? 16 MR. DELBELLO: Mr. Chairman, I 17 think we just demonstrated through the 18 computer modeling and the shadow 19 studies as they will exist if the 20 building is built, that none of the 21 shadows from this building fall on 22 Philipse Manor hall or Philipse Manor 23 Hall property. All these shadows fall 24 north, significantly north of the 25 Philipse Manor site. We can go through Page 21 1 Proceedings 2 that again with you. 3 The current buildings cast shadows 4 but they are existing buildings. 5 MR. CIANCIULLI: You also have on 6 the corner, you have an apartment 7 house, and you had one that just burned 8 down on the other corner, the back of 9 it. Probably they are going to build 10 something there, I don't know, but 11 assuming they are going to build 12 something there, they are certainly not 13 going to build something higher than 14 what they have now, so how are the 15 shadows going to affect those people 16 that live there in that apartment? 17 MR. DELBELLO: Obviously from the 18 portrayal that was on the screen there 19 will be shadows cast on those 20 buildings. 21 MR. CIANCIULLI: Sure, there are 22 shadows going to be cast on the north 23 street. I can't think the name of that 24 street. 25 MR. DELBELLO: Wells Avenue. Page 22 1 Proceedings 2 MR. CIANCIULLI: Thank you. There 3 is going to be shadows cast on those 4 houses, those residences. There are 5 shadows going to be cast on North 6 Broadway, the residents across the 7 street which is some residential, I 8 believe, and I believe also some 9 retail. 10 MR. DELBELLO: Correct. At 11 certain times of the day there will be 12 shadows cast on those structures, no 13 question about it. 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: Do you have 15 anything else to say on that, Mr. 16 Lachs? 17 MR. LACHS: I agree with what Mr. 18 Delbello just said, there will be 19 shadows at portions of the day. In 20 some cases those shadows are not 21 significantly more than the shadows 22 being cast by the buildings on the site 23 now. 24 MR. CIANCIULLI: Are you going to 25 be the person to talk about Manor Hall Page 23 1 Proceedings 2 and the fragile-- the building being 3 fragile and what is going to be done to 4 protect it during the construction of 5 the building if it's passed, and the 6 same thing about the historic 7 buildings, other historic buildings in 8 the area, are you going to comment or 9 bring somebody else? 10 MR. DELBELLO: Mr. Chairman, a lot 11 of consideration was given to that 12 exact issue, and Stuart Lachs can 13 address that. He is the designer of 14 the building. He's going to be 15 responsible for how that is built. 16 MR. CIANCIULLI: Good. Mr. Lachs. 17 MR. LACHS: As outlined in the 18 EIF, we believe that the actual 19 construction impacts on the surrounding 20 buildings, including the Manor Hall, 21 are going to be negligible. There is 22 no bedrock on the site that will be 23 needed to be excavated. There will be 24 no blasting. There will be no jack 25 hammering of rock on the site, and we Page 24 1 Proceedings 2 believe the construction impact from 3 the truck traffic will not be 4 significantly more than the existing 5 traffic on Warburton Avenue now, and 6 this is elaborated in a little more 7 detail in the EIF. 8 However, even given that belief 9 that there will be negligible impact, 10 what the owners are proposing to do is 11 to provide construction vibration 12 monitoring equipment that will be 13 installed in the Manor House, I believe 14 in the room that has the coco ceiling, 15 and in one other building on, it's 16 either on the southern end of Warburton 17 or on Manor House Square, that would 18 provide realtime monitoring 24/7 of the 19 vibration activities, vibrations caused 20 or potentially caused by the 21 construction process, if there are any. 22 MR. CIANCIULLI: One of those 23 vibration instruments will be in Manor 24 House, Philipse Manor? 25 MR. LACHS: Yes, sir. Page 25 1 Proceedings 2 MR. CIANCIULLI: It's very fine 3 architecture. I was a member of the 4 committee that revived that. Mrs. 5 Little was the chairperson and we know 6 the building, it's very -- it's a 7 unique building in the City of Yonkers 8 and we should be proud of it. 9 MR. LACHS: Certainly. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: We want to make 11 sure it stays like that, the inside of 12 that, the parchment and the 13 architecture. 14 MR. LACHS: Yes. We agree with 15 that, and that is why we are offering 16 to provide this piece of monitoring 17 equipment. There is a full 18 specification of how the monitoring 19 equipment would be installed which is 20 included in one of the appendixes of 21 the EIF. 22 MR. CIANCIULLI: All right. I saw 23 the EIF, it's pretty good. Are you 24 going to be driving any piles? 25 MR. LACHS: No, sir. Page 26 1 Proceedings 2 MR. CIANCIULLI: We went over this 3 the last time. I read the minutes 4 over. 5 The Landmarks Board, how would you 6 be dealing with the landmarked 7 buildings on the site? Just go over 8 that again for us, Mr. Delbello or Mr. 9 Lachs. 10 MR. LACHS: If -- 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: I am under the 12 impression, when I say I, I mean the 13 Board, the Board is under the 14 impression that you are going to leave 15 those stores up, or you are going to 16 take the row of stores down on 17 Warburton Avenue, and you are going to 18 replicate the same row of stores that 19 are there now, am I correct on that? 20 MR. DELBELLO: No. 21 MR. LACHS: We are not taking down 22 the existing stores or store fronts or 23 facades. 24 MR. CIANCIULLI: You are building 25 around them? Page 27 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LACHS: We are going to build 3 around them. 4 MR. DELBELLO: Let me start off. 5 Obviously as you well know, as this 6 Board knows, the Landmarks Board in 7 Yonkers has landmarked this district so 8 it's now a landmarked district that 9 includes all of these buildings on 10 Warburton and Manor House, not all of 11 them, but most of them, and includes 12 the buildings on our site that are 13 owned by the Greystone Foundation. 14 In discussions with the Landmarks 15 Board, an agreement has been arrived at 16 that if we can preserve and restore the 17 facades of the buildings and build our 18 building behind it in such a way that 19 it does not damage those facades, that 20 that could probably be worked out with 21 the Landmarks Board. All of this is 22 obviously subject to the variances that 23 are granted and your action as a Zoning 24 Board of Appeals. 25 Once your action takes place and Page 28 1 Proceedings 2 we know what the building is going to 3 look like, it's going to go up behind 4 those facades. 5 We have gone out and hired in 6 addition to Stuart, we hired a 7 preservation architect. That 8 preservation architect is going to go 9 in now and test the facades, find out 10 what kind of materials were originally 11 used, what the original bricks were, 12 what the original kind of woodwork was 13 and windows and doors and so forth. 14 Greystone is committed to not only 15 preserve but to restore, to put those 16 facades back to the way they originally 17 looked with the original textures when 18 they were originally built. 19 That detail is going to be worked 20 out in conjunction with the Landmarks 21 Board to assure that they are satisfied 22 with the degree of preservation and 23 restoration that is going to take 24 place. 25 What Stuart has been able to do is Page 29 1 Proceedings 2 develop the plans. 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: Who is Stuart? 4 MR. DELBELLO: Stuart Lachs, Mr. 5 Lachs. 6 MR. CIANCIULLI: You know I don't 7 allow first names. 8 MR. DELBELLO: Sorry. What Mr. 9 Lachs has been able to do is develop 10 the plans for putting this building 11 behind those facades, including retail, 12 actually putting retail back at the 13 street level so that the facades are 14 functioning now. They are not just 15 pretending to be there, they are 16 actually -- the facades of retail 17 spaces, and how the facades are kept in 18 place while the building is built. 19 Now, Mr. Lachs can go into that in 20 some detail with you how that is going 21 to be arranged, but the preservation of 22 the facades on Warburton is the 23 responsibility of Greystone working 24 with the Landmarks Board to achieve 25 that goal of restoration. Page 30 1 Proceedings 2 MR. CIANCIULLI: We are going to 3 get into some more information on what 4 you are going to do, but let me remind 5 you, in the minutes of the 26th meeting 6 of June, you did say that you are going 7 to do exactly what the Landmarks 8 Commission wants you to do, am I 9 correct on that? 10 MR. LACHS: Correct. 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: You agree to 12 that? 13 MR. LACHS: Yes. 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: Will you describe 15 what Mr. Delbello was talking 16 about the facades and stuff. 17 MR. LACHS: Yes. 18 MR. DELBELLO: We have pictures. 19 Show some renderings of what it's going 20 to look like. 21 MR. LACHS: I am going to start 22 with this one. This is the ground 23 floor plan. Along both Wells Avenue 24 and Warburton Avenue are the existing 25 facades. They extend all the way up Page 31 1 Proceedings 2 two, three, four stories. 3 As Mr. Delbello mentioned, we are 4 going to preserve those. To begin 5 with, a steel frame will be erected 6 outside on the sidewalk level to 7 stabilize those facades so that the 8 excavation and demolition behind them 9 can happen without the facades 10 themselves being damaged in coming 11 down. 12 Once construction begins, that 13 steel frame will remain in place. The 14 new buildings will tie into the 15 existing facades and have a steel frame 16 or possibly a concrete frame behind 17 again to stabilize the existing facades 18 and allow them to remain in place. 19 As it is now with the floor 20 levels, especially at the retail level 21 are a variety of different elevations. 22 What we are proposing is that all these 23 be brought down to the same elevation 24 at sidewalk level. That will improve 25 both the marketability of that space Page 32 1 Proceedings 2 and ensure that there is productive 3 retail, thereby bringing it right at 4 the sidewalk level. 5 That also allows us to conform to 6 the various handicapped accessibility 7 laws that require an accessible 8 entrance into the retail spaces. 9 Once we get up to the parking 10 levels, which is the first few levels 11 above the retail, the building is held 12 back, it's 17 feet along -- yes, 17 13 feet along Warburton and a little over 14 five feet along Wells, and that's 15 actually, that current design is based 16 on input from the Landmarks Board that 17 we met with a few times before coming 18 back before you, the Zoning Board of 19 Appeals. 20 That allows us to get a steel 21 frame in place to preserve the existing 22 facades, and I am going to cycle 23 quickly through. 24 Here is the building section. 25 This is Warburton Avenue. This would Page 33 1 Proceedings 2 represent the facades and shows how the 3 building is behind it for the parking 4 levels, but brought all the way out so 5 the retail engages the storefronts at 6 the ground level. Those storefronts 7 would be restored, adjusted slightly to 8 account for the different -- the 9 commonality of the floor elevation, but 10 new storefronts, you know, new windows, 11 new doorways, and as such again to make 12 for viable retail space. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: That's the 14 picture we want to see. Go back to 15 that one. 16 Is that basically what it's going 17 to look like if we give you permission? 18 MR. LACHS: This is actually the 19 existing conditions. All we did is add 20 in the mass to represent the building. 21 MR. CIANCIULLI: Is that what 22 Warburton Avenue is going to look like? 23 MR. LACHS: We'll maintain 24 Warburton Avenue as it is now. There 25 are portions of the building that start Page 34 1 Proceedings 2 here at 44 and runs up the corner, so 3 these buildings will actually be better 4 than that. 5 This is the existing conditions. 6 The buildings have been modified. Some 7 of the historic features have been 8 covered over with vinyl and aluminum 9 siding and such, and as part of the 10 overall project, those facades will be 11 restored. 12 MR. CIANCIULLI: Do you have a 13 picture of Wells Avenue? 14 MR. LACHS: I do, yes. 15 MR. CIANCIULLI: Let me see it, 16 please. 17 MR. LACHS: It's a little small. 18 This is Wells Avenue, so this is 56 19 Warburton on the corner and then 68 20 Wells, and 68 Wells, this green facade 21 is what we're proposing to utilize for 22 our residential entry, so that will be 23 incorporated into the residential 24 portion of the building and serve as 25 the main entry point for the residents Page 35 1 Proceedings 2 and their guests. 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: Do you have a 4 picture of the side walls of Wells 5 Avenue? 6 MR. LACHS: The side walls of 7 Wells? 8 MR. CIANCIULLI: There is some 9 nice architecture on Wells Avenue. 10 There is one building there between 11 Warburton Avenue and North Broadway. 12 There is an ugly garage behind it. 13 MR. LACHS: This is the ugly 14 garage. I am sorry, this power point, 15 I don't have them larger. 16 MR. CIANCIULLI: I am saying, show 17 us a picture of Warburton Avenue. Do 18 you have a picture of Wells Avenue, the 19 same type of picture? 20 MR. LACHS: No, sorry, I do not. 21 MR. CIANCIULLI: Thank you. Let 22 me ask you a question, Mr. Delbello. 23 You got the first floor, you got the 24 second floor, you got the third floor, 25 there is a parapet there, am I correct, Page 36 1 Proceedings 2 Mr. Lachs, second floor, there is a 3 landing? 4 MR. LACHS: Yes, at the second 5 floor. 6 MR. CIANCIULLI: First floor, 7 second floor, where is the landing, on 8 the second floor or the third floor? 9 MR. LACHS: The landing is set 10 back, would be at the second floor. 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: Second floor. 12 How far is the setback from Warburton 13 Avenue, the beginning of the building 14 back, what is that, 15 feet, 20 feet, 15 25? 16 MR. LACHS: I believe 17 feet. 17 MR. CIANCIULLI: How many? 18 MR. LACHS: Seventeen. 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: Seventeen feet. 20 MR. LACHS: I would like to refer 21 to the plans so I am not doing this 22 from memory. 23 MR. CIANCIULLI: Take your time. 24 MR. LACHS: It's 12 feet, sir. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: I am sorry? Page 37 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LACHS: Twelve feet. 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: It's 12 feet. Is 4 there a reason why it's only 12 feet 5 back? 6 MR. LACHS: Yes, sir. The 7 constraints of the site, the site is 8 approximately 150 feet deep from 9 Warburton Avenue to North Broadway, and 10 to fit the required parking or fit the 11 parking that we were able to fit in, we 12 need two rows, to aisleways of parking, 13 and so the resulting parking aisleways 14 leaves us the 12 feet between the 15 parking and the edge of the facades on 16 Warburton, so we have pushed the 17 parking as far east towards North 18 Broadway as we can to maximize the 19 setback on Warburton Avenue. 20 MR. CIANCIULLI: The parking would 21 be from the side? 22 MR. LACHS: I am sorry? 23 MR. CIANCIULLI: The parking would 24 be from the most easterly side to the 25 westerly side? Page 38 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LACHS: Correct. 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: The landing is on 4 the westerly side? 5 MR. LACHS: The landing is on the 6 western. I can show you on the plans. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: Good. 8 MR. LACHS: This is the second 9 floor plan. This is the North Broadway 10 side. This is Warburton. We moved the 11 parking as far east as we can towards 12 North Broadway. This is the limit of 13 the parking, and this is the 12 foot 14 wide parapet that I believe you are 15 asking about. 16 MR. CIANCIULLI: Yes. Is that 17 going to be used, Mr. Lachs, for 18 recreation or anything, people come out 19 there and walk? 20 MR. LACHS: At this level, no. We 21 have had some discussions with the 22 Landmarks Board about some sort of use 23 of that space to lend some activity to 24 the streets so it does not look like a 25 blank facade. Page 39 1 Proceedings 2 We are considering incorporating 3 skylights or in some other way to make 4 the space usable for the retail below, 5 but because of it's location adjacent 6 to the parking level, we are not going 7 to make it public recreation space. 8 There is a second setback that 9 occurs on the south end above the 10 parking level where we start the 11 residential. 12 MR. CIANCIULLI: How big is that? 13 MR. LACHS: That is about 20 feet 14 deep and probably about -- actually 15 about 60 feet long. That's adjacent to 16 a community space that will be provided 17 for the residents. 18 MR. CIANCIULLI: So it's 10 feet 19 by 50 feet, that is 500 square feet. 20 MR. LACHS: No, 20 feet by 50 21 feet. 22 MR. CIANCIULLI: It's a thousand 23 square feet? 24 MR. LACHS: Yes. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: That's where you Page 40 1 Proceedings 2 are going to put the community center? 3 MR. LACHS: No, that is adjacent 4 to a 2,200 square foot community room. 5 The adjacent is open space, the green 6 on the plan. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: You are going to 8 have a 2,200 feet community room, about 9 another thousand square feet of open 10 space? 11 MR. LACHS: Yes, sir. 12 MR. CIANCIULLI: People can go out 13 and get a breath of fresh air. 14 MR. LACHS: Yes, sir. 15 MR. CIANCIULLI: Are there any 16 questions of the Board? 17 Introduce yourself. 18 MR. BURKE: Levar Burke. 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: Any questions of 20 the Board so far? 21 Wasn't there some controversy 22 about that landing? Did you hear of 23 any controversy about that landing? 24 MR. DELBELLO: I haven't. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: The Landmarks Page 41 1 Proceedings 2 Board question that? 3 MR. LACHS: The Landmarks Board 4 requested the parapet, the setback 5 along Warburton Avenue. Our original 6 plans brought the parking levels all 7 the way to the back side of the facades 8 and the Landmarks Board felt that in an 9 effort to differentiate between the 10 proposed building and the existing 11 facades, we should pull back as far as 12 possible. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: From the street 14 or, I mean, the second floor as far 15 back as possible? 16 MR. LACHS: Yes. 17 MR. CIANCIULLI: You feel that's 18 as far back as possible without losing 19 parking, correct? 20 MR. LACHS: Correct. To increase 21 the setback any further would be at the 22 cost of parking spaces. 23 MR. CIANCIULLI: Now we are going 24 to get into some traffic impacts. Mr. 25 Lachs going to handle that? Page 42 1 Proceedings 2 MR. DELBELLO: No, we have Georges 3 Jacquemart from BFJ who is a traffic 4 engineer and is familiar with the 5 traffic reports from John Collins and 6 the parking issues, and I would ask him 7 to address those questions. 8 MR. CIANCIULLI: Sure. Are you an 9 attorney, sir? 10 MR. JACQUEMART: No, sir. 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: Raise your right 12 hand. You solemnly swear to tell the 13 truth, the whole truth so help you God? 14 MR. JACQUEMART: I do. 15 MR. CIANCIULLI: State your name 16 and address, please. 17 MR. JACQUEMART: Georges 18 Jacquemart, BJF Planning, 115 Fifth 19 Avenue, New York, New York. 20 MR. CIANCIULLI: Is Mr. Fish 21 involved with you? 22 MR. JACQUEMART: He is my partner. 23 MR. CIANCIULLI: Very good. I 24 have a lot of respect for Mr. Fish. He 25 has been before the Board several Page 43 1 Proceedings 2 times. 3 What we are going talk about is 4 some traffic situations. What are the 5 traffic impacts from the proposed 105 6 dwelling units? Does your traffic 7 study show any need for signalization 8 for intersection upgrades? I have it 9 in the book here. 10 MR. JACQUEMART: The traffic study 11 is fairly clear. It does not show any 12 need for traffic light signalization. 13 The impacts are very, very minor in 14 terms of the changes in delays at the 15 intersections and the traffic 16 conditions. 17 The level of service at the four 18 intersections that were studied remain 19 as very good levels for this kind of 20 area. They are all levels of service B 21 and C which is considered a very good 22 traffic condition. 23 The study also has been done with 24 fairly conservative assumptions, 25 basically using what we call the ITE Page 44 1 Proceedings 2 Traffic Generation Rates which are 3 typical rates in very suburban areas 4 where everybody would drive. 5 In this particular case we 6 expect some percentage of people to 7 walk to the station or use public 8 transportation, so I feel very 9 comfortable in saying that the impacts 10 are not significant. 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: Do you have any 12 level F, service level F, timing? 13 MR. JACQUEMART: No level service 14 F at any of the intersections that were 15 studied in the adjacency of the 16 project. 17 They studied four intersections, 18 Warburton and Wells Avenue, North 19 Broadway and Wells Avenue, the 20 intersection of Warburton and Manor 21 House Square, and then the access drive 22 to the proposed garage. 23 MR. CIANCIULLI: The access drive 24 where? 25 MR. JACQUEMART: To the garage, up Page 45 1 Proceedings 2 North Broadway where cars would enter 3 or exit from the garage. They studied 4 that exit as well. 5 MR. CIANCIULLI: Where is most of 6 your level, level C service? I got 7 your papers in front of me and I read 8 it very carefully. I just want to hear 9 it from you. 10 MR. JACQUEMART: If you look at 11 Table Two, you can see that the worst 12 level of service in the year 2009 under 13 the build condition would be level of 14 service C, and that's for the vehicles 15 that exit from the garage in the 16 afternoon peak hour. 17 MR. CIANCIULLI: What about the 18 retail at night? 19 MR. JACQUEMART: This is included. 20 Actually the traffic study does include 21 the retail. They make the assumption 22 that it will be restaurant use which is 23 worse than the retail, so in here they 24 included a restaurant. They made the 25 assumption that the space would be a Page 46 1 Proceedings 2 restaurant use which is higher traffic 3 generation than retail. 4 MR. CIANCIULLI: What table are 5 you referring to with the restaurant 6 now? What table are you referring to 7 in your study? 8 MR. JACQUEMART: Table One which 9 shows the traffic generation for the 10 apartments, and then it shows the 11 traffic duration for the restaurant, 12 and it adds those two together to give 13 us the traffic generation for the 14 proposed project. 15 MR. DELBELLO: It should be 16 pointed out this is all neighborhood 17 retail, not destination type retail. 18 It's local retail with the restaurant 19 being the worst case. 20 MR. CIANCIULLI: All right. I 21 think somewhere's here you said it 22 wasn't going to be a restaurant, I 23 think it was in the minutes or 24 something you said. I can't think of 25 them right now. You said you weren't Page 47 1 Proceedings 2 going to have a restaurant there. 3 MR. DELBELLO: I think we said 4 that at one point that there was no 5 intention of putting a restaurant 6 there, but they studied a worst case 7 scenario. 8 MR. CIANCIULLI: You know the word 9 intention to me is not a yes or no as 10 you know that, Mr. Delbello. 11 MR. DELBELLO: Yes. 12 MR. CIANCIULLI: I only have a 13 high school education too, by the way, 14 but I know what intention means. It's 15 either yes or no. The Board will rely 16 on that for now. It might be something 17 that is conditioned. I don't know how 18 we'll work that out. 19 So you don't think you need any 20 signals to be upgraded, am I correct? 21 MR. JACQUEMART: That's correct. 22 This traffic study mentions restriping 23 of some of the -- I will read it to 24 you. "Some new and updated pavement 25 markings should be added to the Page 48 1 Proceedings 2 adjacent intersections." 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: Any markings and 4 pavement markings, any expenses due to 5 what the Board is going to put in a 6 condition, we'll probably have you do, 7 pay for them, to be honest with you, 8 you understand that? 9 MR. DELBELLO: Yes, that's 10 understood. 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: I am interested 12 in the parking, the shared parking 13 agreement. You are going to have to 14 explain that to the Board, and how does 15 the Board know the work, especially on 16 week even, most traffic will come from 17 proposed restaurants while the 18 residents are at home, most retail 19 also. 20 Would there be any anything for 21 overflow parking? Overflow parking, 22 that will have to be answered by Mr. 23 Delbello. The other question can be 24 answered by you and Mr. Delbello or 25 somebody else. Page 49 1 Proceedings 2 MR. JACQUEMART: I can answer the 3 question. I did the parking study. As 4 you probably know, the Yonkers Zoning 5 Code would require a total of 184 6 spaces based on your Zoning Code, and 7 the proposal is to propose 151 spaces. 8 The reason we believe that this 9 can work very well is to share parking. 10 Basically I think it's important to 11 understand that the parking ratio in a 12 Zoning Code assumes that that 13 particular use satisfies its own peak 14 parking demand on its own site, whether 15 that parking demand occurs during the 16 night when the residents are home, or 17 whether the parking demand occurs on a 18 Saturday afternoon when retail tends to 19 peak, so as soon as we combine two 20 different uses on one site and the uses 21 have their peak parking demand at 22 different time periods, we can take 23 advantage of what we call shared 24 parking. 25 We have in our profession Page 50 1 Proceedings 2 guidelines from the Urban Land 3 Institute that tell us how to do shared 4 parking. 5 We have guidelines from the 6 Institute of Transportation Engineers 7 that tell us how to do shared parking. 8 I think in this case it's a very 9 good combination of two uses. The 10 residential use peaks during the night. 11 Actually the real peak occurs between 12 midnight and about 6:00 a.m. when 13 people start to leave their home. At 14 least some of them leave the area, and 15 we know during the day this particular 16 location, we expect that about half of 17 the residents, maybe 45 to 50 percent 18 of the residential cars will still be 19 in the building. Not everybody 20 commutes by car because of the 21 location. Some people will commute by 22 transit or may even walk to work. 23 These are also locations, since 24 they are work and living units, some 25 people will leave their car in the Page 51 1 Proceedings 2 building, so what it means, starting in 3 the morning around 6, 7, 8, residents 4 will leave, about half will remain, so 5 that means if you look at the 151 6 spaces, about half of those will be 7 available starting around 7, 8 in the 8 morning, and they will then be 9 available for the employees or the 10 shoppers, the people that go to the 11 residential, to the retail 12 destinations. 13 In the evening what happens is, 14 depends on the retail, some of the 15 retail uses may be -- we assume they 16 will be retail, not restaurants, that 17 is a basic assumption, and it's my 18 understanding that it will be retail. 19 Depending on the retail uses, they 20 may close at 5 or 6 or 7 or 8, but we 21 also know that not all the residents 22 will be home at 6:00 or 8 o'clock. 23 Some of them will come around 10, 11, 24 and the parking demand from the retail 25 uses is actually fairly low because Page 52 1 Proceedings 2 it's not a big retail component. We 3 are talking about roughly 8,000 square 4 feet of retail use, so what we suggest 5 is, that the upper levels of the 6 parking-- as you know there is a series 7 of upper levels of parking. They have 8 128 spaces, that that parking, that 9 portion of the garage be designated for 10 permit parking only, meaning the 11 residents will have a magnetic card 12 that lets them into the parking garage, 13 and the retail employees would also 14 park in there. 15 We estimate there will be six or 16 seven employees in this particular 17 space. They will then be able to use 18 the residential spaces that will free 19 up during the day to park there. 20 At the lower level where we have 21 23 spaces, the retail shoppers will be 22 able to park there during the day. In 23 the evening the visitors to the 24 residential units will be able to park 25 there, so the upper portion will be Page 53 1 Proceedings 2 controlled through magnetic cards, and 3 there will not be designated parking 4 spaces, meaning the residents who come 5 home will be first come first serve, 6 and they park on the level that they 7 prefer to park and then go from there 8 to their home. 9 This is a fairly acceptable 10 condition. I know other projects where 11 we have shared parking. I know the 12 case-- I worked a lot in downtown 13 Princeton where we have a relatively 14 upscale-- also over a hundred 15 townhouses, and they share parking with 16 an office building that is in that same 17 complex. That is Palmer Square in 18 Princeton, so we have no issue with the 19 parking situation. 20 At night there will be 151 spaces. 21 That's higher than the Zoning Code, 22 what the zoning would require for 23 residential use. There are-- if you 24 apply the 1.33 spaces per apartment 25 which I think is slightly on the high Page 54 1 Proceedings 2 side for this location, this type of 3 building, but if we assume the 1.33, 4 that means 140 spaces for the 5 residents, but we know that peak demand 6 only occurs from late evening, 11 to 7 about 6 in the morning. 8 The code requirement for retail in 9 my opinion is not -- is too high for 10 this particular location. The code, 11 your code requires five spaces per 12 thousand or one parking space for every 13 200 square feet. That is a parking 14 requirement for suburb and shopping 15 centers. That is a code that reflects, 16 you know, a retail use where everybody 17 drives to the use and from the use. 18 Everybody drives and parks and drives 19 away again, and that's what your code 20 implies. 21 This particular location where the 22 applicant proposes neighborhood retail, 23 we expect a very high percentage of the 24 people that will shop in this 25 particular retail use to walk. It will Page 55 1 Proceedings 2 be people that already live in the 3 neighborhood or work in the 4 neighborhood or may be in the 5 neighborhood to go to a restaurant or 6 any other cultural activities, could be 7 people going to the Manor across the 8 street, they will go shopping at the 9 same time, so the parking demand 10 generated by a retail in this location 11 is significantly less than five per 12 thousand. 13 We have surveys that again was 14 done in Princeton where the people 15 interviewed the shoppers in downtown 16 Princeton to see what is the primary 17 reason for you to be in downtown 18 Princeton, and from that they deducted 19 that the parking ratio in Princeton was 20 actually 2.1 per thousand as opposed-- 21 as compared to your five per thousand. 22 I have a copy of that particular 23 study if you are interested. I can 24 give it to you. 25 The other source I can quote from Page 56 1 Proceedings 2 that is a book called Planning. It's 3 kind of a basic manual, parking, basic 4 manual that we use that also cites for 5 downtown areas parking ratios that are 6 more in the range of 2 to 2.5 per 7 thousand as opposed to five per 8 thousand. 9 I will be happy to answer any 10 other questions. 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: We went through 12 this the last time about the shopping 13 center farther out, but I will 14 reiterate again, the code is the code. 15 The code is the code. 16 MR. JACQUEMART: I understand. 17 THE COURT: I am just telling you 18 that right now, okay. A question for 19 you, maybe you can answer me, Mr. 20 Delbello. 21 Where would the visitors to the 22 residents park? Very interested in 23 that. You said you got the top floors 24 for the residents of the apartment 25 house, then you have maybe seven or Page 57 1 Proceedings 2 eight employees that you are saying 3 might be employed also park up there. 4 They will have a card also, I assume. 5 You couldn't take that seven or eight 6 on the low end. If you have an 8,000 7 square foot restaurant, you have a high 8 amount, you need people to service 9 other people, you may need more than 10 eight. 11 You are basing one person on every 12 thousand square feet. 13 MR. JACQUEMART: If it is a 14 restaurant, yes, but then also a fair 15 proportion of the restaurant employees, 16 the kitchen employees will probably not 17 drive, they come by public 18 transportation or they walk. 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: We can't say that 20 for sure because we have to make sure 21 we got the parking. You can't say that 22 for sure. 23 MR. JACQUEMART: We know that from 24 similar examples. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: That could be an Page 58 1 Proceedings 2 example, but people still could drive 3 their cars there, okay. 4 You are saying you got one 5 employee to every thousand square feet. 6 That is eight thousand square feet. 7 Some businesses might require two or 8 three employees. Some may need one, 9 okay. 10 What I am saying is, we'll take 11 your figure of eight, we will go along 12 with that, so now you got all the 13 upstairs with the cards for the 14 residents and the eight employees. It 15 could be lower, okay. 16 Now, where are the guests of the 17 residents going to park? 18 MR. JACQUEMART: The guests for 19 the residents. Well, they have the 20 same right to park in the lower level 21 where you have the 23 spaces. 22 Our recommendation is that those 23 23 spaces, that they be marked in 24 typical shopping situations, maximum 25 two hour parking Mondays through Page 59 1 Proceedings 2 Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 7 p.m.. That's 3 kind of a reasonable time period so a 4 visitor can park there for two hours, 5 the same way as a shopper can park. 6 In addition, there is plenty of 7 on-street parking around this site, 8 within a relatively easy walking 9 distance. We inventoried about 180 10 metered or non-metered parking spaces 11 around the site. 12 Twice I made a survey. Today at 13 5:30 I walked around that site around 14 that whole block. There were today 30 15 spaces that were vacant on those four 16 blocks just around the site. 17 I did a similar survey a few 18 months ago when we had our first 19 meeting here. At that time at 5 p.m., 20 we had 17 spaces that were vacant, that 21 were available, so that we expect also 22 those shoppers, and I assume it's 23 retail, it's not a restaurant, that the 24 shoppers will -- some of them will park 25 on the street. That's a very natural Page 60 1 Proceedings 2 way of doing it here in Yonkers. They 3 will not all go into that parking area 4 for the lower parking area where we 5 have 23 spaces. 6 The visitors may use it. The 7 shoppers may use it, and there is 8 plenty of on-street parking 9 availability. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: I am going to ask 11 the Building Commissioner to check into 12 the meters and let us know if it's a 24 13 hour operation, what the operation 14 within a thousand square feet is, 15 please, of the proposed building. 16 Mr. Delbello, you will get that by 17 calling the Building Department. He 18 has got to check into that. 19 MR. DELBELLO: Okay, that's fine, 20 Mr. Chairman. Obviously this is an 21 inner city project, and as Mr. 22 Jacquemart has indicated, there are 23 calculations for projects that sit in 24 urban settings such as this, walking 25 trades, other parking in the area, and Page 61 1 Proceedings 2 I might point out as Mr. Lachs was just 3 reminding me of the fact that our 4 parking code does figure into the 5 visitor parking as part of the 6 calculation according to the code. 7 That is why the code is a little higher 8 and allows for that much parking. We 9 are very comfortable. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: Under what 11 section of the code is that? 12 MR. DELBELLO: The code itself has 13 calculated -- 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: What section of 15 the code? You mentioned a section. 16 MR. DELBELLO: I don't know the 17 section offhand. 18 MR. CIANCIULLI: You made a 19 statement. How can you make a 20 statement without providing the section 21 of the code? 22 MR. DELBELLO: I will provide it 23 for you. 24 MR. CIANCIULLI: Provide just 25 that. Page 62 1 Proceedings 2 MR. DELBELLO: The section. 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: Just one line, 4 the section, provide that and nothing 5 else in the letter. 6 MR. DELBELLO: Yes. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: I think what is 8 on our minds is, you also represent 9 somebody else, you represent somebody 10 else here tonight, and the last time 11 you were here you had people from other 12 projects. You had a proposed project 13 going on and we are concerned about the 14 amount of traffic that they are going 15 to -- the amount of parking that are 16 going to be needed also. 17 You got about a billion and a half 18 dollar project coming up, am I correct, 19 that might be moving next week, two 20 weeks from now, and you also have other 21 things that are going on there that you 22 pointed out in your presentation here 23 to us. That's the area we are 24 concerned about the parking. 25 MR. DELBELLO: Each one of those Page 63 1 Proceedings 2 projects has to satisfy its own parking 3 requirement. 4 MR. CIANCIULLI: They are going to 5 satisfy some parking requirements, and 6 we are also going to have the same 7 situation, where are the visitors going 8 to park? 9 MR. DELBELLO: Absolutely. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: As Getty Square 11 and the area around Getty Square grows, 12 parking is going to be needed. I am 13 not saying that parking is not going to 14 be needed, but to me, the visitors, try 15 to get a jump at it now, that's what we 16 are trying to do. 17 So you feel you have enough 18 visitor parking. You said the 23 19 spaces that you are reserving for 20 retail, that is also going to be shared 21 by the visitors? 22 MR. JACQUEMART: Yes, sir, and 23 during the day it will be primarily 24 retail customers using them, because 25 typically the visitor demand is highest Page 64 1 Proceedings 2 in the evening around dinner time, so 3 in the evening, those 23 spaces will 4 not be utilized much by the retail 5 people, but will be available to the 6 visitors, and the visitors can stay 7 there over night until the next morning 8 when the two hour regulation comes into 9 effect, so a visitor, it's a two hour 10 regulation starts at 9 o'clock, the 11 visitor could stay until 11 o'clock 12 easily without any problem. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: Well, I think we 14 agree, it's very hard to enforce the 15 rules. It's not a public garage, it's 16 a private garage. It's hard to enforce 17 those rules, and what happens sometimes 18 is, when you start to enforce it, you 19 make a mistake, you make an enemy out 20 of somebody. 21 I happen to know something 22 happened to somebody where that 23 situation was very ugly. 24 MR. JACQUEMART: Right. What 25 happens in a private case, there has to Page 65 1 Proceedings 2 be rules. There has to be signs that 3 say maximum two hour parking Monday 4 through Saturday, and typically in a 5 private situation there is not much of 6 an enforcement until there is a problem 7 and then people will enforce it. The 8 owner of the building will enforce it. 9 MR. CIANCIULLI: You have 105 10 apartments, 105 apartments, am I 11 correct on that? 12 MR. DELBELLO: Yes. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: And you mean to 14 tell me out of 105 residents that are 15 there, I think they will have some 16 visitors, that is what I am concerned 17 about, that is why I asked you these 18 questions. 19 MR. JACQUEMART: The number of 20 visitors is typically in the range of 21 10 percent of the parking, so if we 22 assume that 1.33 ratio and that's 140 23 spaces, typical breakdown of that 140 24 that we need for the residents would be 25 roughly 10 percent for visitors and the Page 66 1 Proceedings 2 balance would be for the residents, so 3 because all the parking codes I know, 4 the visitors are always included in 5 that number, so that would be rough -- 6 MR. CIANCIULLI: Visitors are 7 included in what number? 8 MR. JACQUEMART: If you have a 9 Zoning Code that says you need to 10 supply 1.33 spaces per unit, that 1.33 11 does include the visitor parking as 12 well as the resident parking. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: It does? 14 MR. JACQUEMART: Yes. In most 15 case codes that I know, yes. 16 MR. CIANCIULLI: You have two 17 bedrooms here, you have two bedrooms, 18 you have 45 one bedrooms, 52 two 19 bedrooms, and you got eight three 20 bedrooms. Two bedrooms to me could 21 mean a minimum of two cars. 22 MR. JACQUEMART: Not necessarily. 23 In this area -- 24 MR. CIANCIULLI: You see, this 25 area is starting to pick itself up. Page 67 1 Proceedings 2 It's picking itself up. You are trying 3 to pick this area up. You are trying 4 to welcome people into the area. 5 Nobody can tell me or this Board that 6 they are going to have one car or no 7 cars. That is a hypothetical thing. 8 That is why the code is like it is. 9 MR. JACQUEMART: Right. The 1.33 10 represents an average, and I think for 11 this area, it is an appropriate average 12 because you also have people-- you are 13 right, we are trying to pick this up, 14 this area, but we also have people who 15 want to move here because they don't 16 necessarily need two cars because they 17 are close -- they can walk to a 18 restaurant. They can walk to do their 19 day to day shopping. They can walk to 20 the train station or they have bus 21 service nearby, so it is an opportunity 22 for people to live somewhere where they 23 don't need two cars in this area. 24 MR. DELBELLO: In addition to 25 which, this is an affordable housing Page 68 1 Proceedings 2 project, so usually the parking demand 3 and car requirements for affordable 4 projects are less than market rate 5 housing. 6 MR. CIANCIULLI: Any questions 7 from the Board? Mrs. Pearson. 8 MRS. PEARSON: While this 9 project-- when you start this project, 10 will you be closing off sidewalks, any 11 of the sidewalks, any of the-- like 12 Wells Avenue, the street or something, 13 you know, for the large equipment? 14 MR. LACHS: We don't anticipate 15 needing to close off the street itself, 16 but it is possible that as we set up 17 some of the reinforcing for the 18 facades, we will need to close a 19 portion of the sidewalk on both 20 Warburton and Wells, yes. 21 MRS. PEARSON: But you are saying 22 the street itself, North Broadway or 23 Wells or even parts of Warburton Avenue 24 wouldn't be closed off at all while any 25 of this equipment -- Page 69 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LACHS: It might be. There 3 may be a crane or some particularly 4 large piece of equipment that may 5 require a temporary closing off of the 6 street. 7 MR. DELBELLO: Street or a lane. 8 Normally they will have a crane next to 9 a building as they are building and 10 they close a lane, but that will be 11 worked out with the City's Traffic 12 Department. 13 MRS. PEARSON: Thank you. 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: They have to 15 leave access for traffic to go both 16 ways, north and south in that 17 particular instance, and they have to 18 have pedestrian traffic. That might 19 have what you see in New York City with 20 a canopy over the sidewalk. 21 MRS. PEARSON: With the sidewalk, 22 that will be how long while you are 23 fixing the facade, about how long, 24 approximately, how long is the sidewalk 25 to be closed off? Page 70 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LACHS: Probably be a 3 significant portion of the construction 4 period which we anticipate is about 27 5 months. 6 MR. CIANCIULLI: How long did you 7 say the construction is, 12 months? 8 MR. LACHS: Twenty-seven months. 9 MR. CIANCIULLI: Any other 10 questions of the Board? Mr. Delbello, 11 would you like to bring anybody else 12 up, sir, or are you finished with your 13 presentation? 14 MR. DELBELLO: That is fine. 15 MR. CIANCIULLI: Anybody here 16 tonight to speak in favor of this 17 application on Warburton Avenue between 18 Wells Avenue and Manor House Square, 19 bordering on the east by North 20 Broadway? 21 Is there anybody here tonight to 22 speak in opposition to this 23 application? This lady right here, 24 please. 25 Are you an attorney, ma'am. Page 71 1 Proceedings 2 MS. HOARE: No. 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: Raise your right 4 hand. You solemnly swear to tell the 5 truth, the whole truth and nothing but 6 the truth so help you God? 7 MS. HOARE: I do. 8 MR. CIANCIULLI: Your name and 9 address. 10 MS. HOARE: Diedra Hoare, 11 H-O-A-R-E, 16 Cross Street, Yonkers, 12 New York, 10708. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: I am going to ask 14 you to talk a little louder. 15 MS. HOARE: Okay, I will try. 16 MR. CIANCIULLI: The Chairman is 17 getting a little older. 18 MS. HOARE: Okay. 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: My wife says I 20 have selective hearing, but I don't 21 think so. 22 MS. HOARE: Oh, well, I guess I 23 feel-- thank you very much for inviting 24 me to speak. I really appreciate the 25 opportunity to comment. Page 72 1 Proceedings 2 I was one of the applicants for 3 the Historic District, so this is very 4 dear to my heart, this particular site 5 at this particular block, and I just 6 have the feeling that this meeting is 7 somewhat premature. 8 I was a little surprised to see it 9 on the agenda, because as far as I 10 know, the Landmarks Board has not 11 publicly met about this issue since 12 May, and I was a little surprised that 13 Mr. Delbello said that they had come to 14 an agreement with the Landmarks Board 15 regarding only saving the facades of 16 the buildings because that has not been 17 publicly voted on, so I am sure that 18 you, members of the Board, and your 19 liaison can follow up with the 20 Landmarks Board as to what their actual 21 position is, but at this point I found 22 it very surprising to hear that. I 23 think that was one of the major points 24 of making it a landmarked district was 25 not just to save facades, but to Page 73 1 Proceedings 2 actually save some of the integrity of 3 the block, and I was also surprised 4 that it was stated that the Landmarks 5 Board landmarked this block, because it 6 was the City Council that landmarked 7 this block taking into account not only 8 the historic significance, but many of 9 the economic factors, many of the 10 development factors, and it was a 11 unanimous seven-zero vote, and one of 12 the main reasons I believe they did 13 landmark this block because they 14 believed, as we did, that it could 15 serve as a catalyst for renewed 16 activity, renewed vitalization as a 17 historic district associated with 18 Philipse Manor Hall, and so the idea of 19 visitors, I think you also need to take 20 into account that visitors may be 21 coming to see the Historic District. 22 We hope at some point they will be 23 coming to visit not only Philipse Manor 24 Hall, but the Historic District that 25 has been created. That is a very Page 74 1 Proceedings 2 strong engine for tourism in many of 3 the river towns as you probably all 4 know. 5 Also I was a bit concerned that as 6 you mentioned, Mr. Cianciulli the SFC 7 project probably by the time you meet 8 again, that will have been decided in 9 some form or other, and you will then 10 certainly have to consider the fact 11 that Larkin Plaza is slated to become a 12 park and there will be no parking in 13 Larkin Plaza, and I don't really see 14 people traveling from I-Park up to 15 visit people at the Greystone building 16 to park, because the idea is to create 17 off-site parking somewhere apart from 18 Larkin Plaza, so that would certainly 19 be an issue, whereas now if you are 20 visiting those buildings, you can just 21 park in Larkin Plaza. 22 Also on Sundays I am a little 23 surprised that none of the ministers 24 are here from the churches because they 25 have a very severe problem on Sundays Page 75 1 Proceedings 2 with parking. You cannot find a 3 parking space around there on Sundays 4 when they are having their services. 5 And also there is the fact of the 6 shadows. I know that there was some 7 nice renditions of shadows, but the SFC 8 towers, if they are actually built on 9 Chicken Island, the 50 story towers, 10 they will also have shadow impact on 11 this neighborhood, so I think we need 12 to look at the combination, not just 13 the shadows for this particular 14 project. 15 I am also a bit concerned about 16 the idea of the setbacks. I don't 17 think that they are anywhere near 18 enough deep. I know you may have heard 19 in the news recently that there was a 20 firehouse, historic firehouse that was 21 being moved up county, I think it was 22 in Peekskill. It collapsed when they 23 tried to move it. 24 The old Vineyard Avenue firehouse 25 right here on Vineyard Avenue was Page 76 1 Proceedings 2 supposed to-- the facade elements were 3 supposed to be saved and reincorporated 4 in either that building or another 5 building, and it collapsed when they 6 started to demolish it, so I think it's 7 a bit optimistic to think that you can 8 do such major development without 9 potentially harming these facades if 10 you only have 12 feet or 17 feet 11 leeway. 12 In fact, on the Wells Avenue side 13 it was only a five foot leeway, and 14 those are some of the nicer facades, 15 actually, including the building that 16 was stated as potentially being the 17 entranceway to the residential building 18 is a lovely facade. Certainly you 19 would not want to lose that. 20 The other issue that I wanted to 21 point out was, oh, there was a 22 wonderful presentation by a gentleman 23 from the State Historic Preservation 24 Office to the Landmarks Board, Mr. 25 Julian Adams, and he talked about a Page 77 1 Proceedings 2 guideline in historic districts that 3 they promote, it's not a law, but a 4 guideline that no building height 5 should be more than 15 percent higher 6 or lower than the main buildings in the 7 historic districts. That is something 8 that they advise, so it's something to 9 keep in mind, because when you are 10 talking about four story buildings, 15 11 percent increases is not even a six 12 story building, basically, so we are 13 here talking about a 12 story building. 14 One of the things I had hoped that 15 the developer would consider was to 16 focus the high-rise part of the 17 building on the empty lot on North 18 Broadway rather than try to bring it 19 out to the front of Warburton and Wells 20 Avenue sides, and also to pursue 21 acquiring that parcel where the 22 abandoned gas station is, because if 23 that gas station was acquired, there 24 could potentially be an expansion of 25 the necessary parking on that parcel, Page 78 1 Proceedings 2 so I guess that is not being considered 3 actively at this point. 4 I know they had previously tried 5 to contact that owner, but that to me 6 would be a better solution than trying 7 to basically knock down these buildings 8 except for the first 12 feet. 9 The other issue was Mr. Adams had 10 pointed out that there is a guideline 11 called F.R.E S H., and it stands for 12 the footprint of the building, the roof 13 line, the envelope, the skin and the 14 holes of the buildings in historic 15 districts, and here it seems that we 16 have a footprint that is going to be 17 drastically altered because we are 18 going to have a larger 12 story 19 building coming encroaching, then we 20 have a roof line that yes, to a certain 21 extent is going to be saved if the 22 existing roof lines are maintained in 23 their current way and not just made 24 straight across, but then we have the 25 envelope which is going to be-- the Page 79 1 Proceedings 2 envelope of the building is going to be 3 totally expanded because we are going 4 to have this large mass on top of the 5 current building, and then we have the 6 skin which is wonderful to hear that 7 there is an idea to restore the 8 elements that perhaps have been lost. 9 A lot of the original elements are 10 there, but many of them need repair, 11 and some of them are indeed covered up 12 or have been replaced with, you know, 13 vinyl, et cetera. 14 Finally, the holes, the holes of 15 the windows and the doors. You hear 16 somebody saying they are going to have 17 to revise the storefronts and put new 18 storefronts and new doorways in it 19 becomes a bit of a concern, because 20 again, the integrity of the historic 21 architecture has to be preserved, and 22 anything that needs to be done 23 internally to be up to code obviously 24 is not an issue, because the 25 landmarking does not affect the Page 80 1 Proceedings 2 internal, you know, rearrangement of 3 the interiors or demolition of interior 4 walls, et cetera, so basically my 5 concern is that we need to be thinking 6 about this development as occurring 7 within a Historic District, not just 8 because it's across the street from 9 Philipse Manor Hall, and I am hoping 10 that perhaps your Board might be able 11 to meet, you know, with the Landmarks 12 Board and try to come to some, you 13 know, real solution to being able to 14 incorporate a work force housing into a 15 Historic District which has been done 16 in many places, including New York 17 City. Thank you so much. 18 MR. CIANCIULLI: Let me explain 19 something. We are not going to try to 20 overstep the Landmarks Board. We are 21 not here for that reason, okay. We 22 have a commitment from Mr. Delbello and 23 Mr. Lachs that they are going to go 24 along with whatever the Landmarks Board 25 says. We might add a little help to Page 81 1 Proceedings 2 it, make sure some things get done, so 3 I think you should have faith in us. 4 We'll do a good job when it comes to 5 that. We are going to more than likely 6 not interfere with what the Landmarks 7 Board wants, okay. We have a 8 commitment that the facades are going 9 to be similar to what is there now on 10 Warburton Avenue and on Wells Avenue. 11 I think you realize that we have a 12 lot of questions answered. They did 13 present to us-- in fact, this is the 14 second one, what they call an 15 Environmental Assessment Form and 16 they've done a pretty good job. You 17 can get one if you want one. Perhaps 18 Mr. Delbello has an extra one. 19 So we are trying to work it out 20 with the Landmarks Board. I don't 21 think we are going to supersede them. 22 I think we are going to work with them. 23 As far as meeting with them, I 24 don't know. I don't know if we are 25 going to do that. I doubt it very Page 82 1 Proceedings 2 much, but we do listen. 3 MS. HOARE: Can I respond? 4 MR. CIANCIULLI: Absolutely. 5 MS. HOARE: Thank you very much. 6 One thing I did forget, thank you for 7 reminding me is, I believe that you are 8 the lead agency under the State 9 Environmental Quality Review, and I was 10 hoping that you would require an 11 Environmental Impact Statement because 12 this is a Type I project. It is in a 13 historic district. It's across the 14 street from a historic building. 15 I have seen an earlier version. I 16 don't know if I have gotten the latest 17 version of the EIF form. Maybe Mr. 18 Ellman can provide me with one. 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: Mr. Delbello will 20 provide you with this. 21 MS. HOARE: Great. 22 MR. CIANCIULLI: He is going to 23 mail it to you. 24 MS. HOARE: I think an 25 Environmental Impact Statement may go Page 83 1 Proceedings 2 into further detail, and again, I don't 3 own a building in the district, and I 4 know there are building owners here who 5 probably want to speak, but I think to 6 sort of allay their fears as well, that 7 everything is going to be studied 8 thoroughly. 9 You are certainly within your 10 rights, especially since it is a Type I 11 action, to require an Environmental 12 Impact Statement, so I hope you 13 consider that. 14 MR. BLANCHARD: Mr. Chairman, 15 right from the beginning Mr. Delbello 16 did mention they have special people to 17 restore historical buildings. You 18 mentioned windows and doors and that's 19 what their specialty is, so there will 20 be no change as far as that goes. They 21 will restore everything as it is right 22 now to new. If need be, new windows, 23 new doors, but to look the same, so I 24 mean, that part will stay 25 historically-- that part will stay and Page 84 1 Proceedings 2 will look the same. 3 MS. HOARE: Thank you. 4 MR. CIANCIULLI: Thank you. 5 Anyone else wish to speak in 6 opposition? This gentleman right here, 7 please. Are you an attorney? 8 MR. HOTHAN: No. 9 MR. CIANCIULLI: Raise your right 10 hand. Do you solemnly swear to tell 11 the truth, the whole truth and nothing 12 but the truth so help you God? 13 MR. HOTHAN: Yes, I do. 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: State your name 15 and address, please. 16 MR. HOTHAN: Robert Hothan, 2 17 Bashford Street. 18 So I welcome, personally I welcome 19 development in the downtown area, but I 20 prefer to see smart development, and I 21 have a few questions. 22 I think I missed -- I didn't 23 really fully comprehend the summer 24 solstice a.m. shadow, and I just wanted 25 to know if I could see that again, the Page 85 1 Proceedings 2 shadow study of the summer solstice 3 a.m.. 4 MR. CIANCIULLI: What particular 5 street do you want to see? 6 MR. HOTHAN: Warburton Avenue. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: What else do you 8 want? 9 MR. HOTHAN: I wanted to also 10 learn, in a historic district, are the 11 buildings protected? And what level of 12 protection would a historic district 13 grant the buildings that are on it? 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: I would say this, 15 that I think we went through the 16 Philipse Manor, and they are going to 17 do everything they can to protect it. 18 Like Ms. Hoare had said, it's a 19 sad thing, and I happen to know the 20 people. They were moving a firehouse 21 to Peekskill. It didn't burn down, it 22 collapsed, and they had all the 23 protection needed and it collapsed. 24 These things do happen in life. I 25 can walk out of here and collapse, I Page 86 1 Proceedings 2 hope not, but I could, so these things 3 do happen. Some people would wish that 4 would happen, but I am just telling 5 you. 6 MR. HOTHAN: Actually I was more 7 curious -- 8 MR. CIANCIULLI: Let me tell you 9 something. The devil you know is 10 better than the devil you don't know. 11 Remember that, ladies and gentlemen, 12 you heard that before. Go ahead. 13 MR. HOTHAN: The protection, not 14 so much the physical protection but the 15 legal protection of the properties that 16 have been designated part of the 17 district, does that protect only the 18 facade, or does it protect the 19 building? 20 MR. CIANCIULLI: Let me say this 21 to you. I think before they get a 22 building permit to do this project or 23 any project, they have to put certain 24 benchmarks in place like insurance 25 policies. The Commissioner can help me Page 87 1 Proceedings 2 out on this. I think they would 3 probably come around and take pictures 4 first. A lot of people do that. 5 There is not going to be any 6 blasting. Mr. Delbello said there is 7 not going to be any blasting, is that 8 correct, Mr. Delbello? 9 MR. DELBELLO: That's correct. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: I think it is in 11 their interest or the insurance 12 company's interest to protect your 13 property as well as everyone's 14 property, like Mrs. Pearson was 15 concerned about people 16 walking and cars on Warburton Avenue. 17 They are going to do their best. 18 If you notice in the city, I am in 19 the construction business, if you 20 notice in the city what has been going 21 on, regulations, because of accidents 22 that have been happening, it's in their 23 best interests to make sure they don't 24 have any accidents. 25 For me as a Board to guarantee Page 88 1 Proceedings 2 it's not going to happen, I can't. 3 MR. HOTHAN: That's understood. 4 Those are structural protections, they 5 will be in place, structural protection 6 of the surrounding buildings in the 7 community, but I was also curious as to 8 the buildings that have been designated 9 landmark status. Those buildings, are 10 we collectively protecting or 11 safeguarding, not structurally, but in 12 its entirety the building or the 13 facade? Can we lock off most of the 14 building and just protect just the 15 facade and it still be a historic 16 district? 17 MR. CIANCIULLI: Well, I can't 18 guarantee that. This Board can't 19 guarantee that, but I am sure the city 20 and the developers or any developer 21 will do their darndest to make sure, 22 try to make sure that nothing happens. 23 What building do you have? 24 MR. HOTHAN: Number 40. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: The Commissioner Page 89 1 Proceedings 2 just stated they won't issue a permit 3 without the Landmark's approval, so 4 they will have a lot to say on the 5 safeguarding. This is a Landmarks 6 District. What building are you 7 concerned about? 8 MR. HOTHAN: Number 40. I am of 9 the Historic District. 10 MR. CIANCIULLI: You are part. 11 What is your building, 40 what? 12 MR. HOTHAN: 40 Warburton Avenue. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: Warburton Avenue. 14 In respect to this building, where is 15 that? 16 MR. HOTHAN: Just south, one 17 building south. 18 MR. CIANCIULLI: One building 19 south? 20 MR. HOTHAN: Of the proposed 21 project. 22 MR. CIANCIULLI: You remember the 23 Mother's Kitchen used to be? 24 MR. HOTHAN: Yes, absolutely. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: I'm dating Page 90 1 Proceedings 2 myself. 3 MR. HOTHAN: Thank you for 4 remembering. 5 MR. CIANCIULLI: There should be 6 more Mother's Kitchens. There's a 7 Mother's Kitchen in New Orleans. If 8 you go down there, it's great. 9 MR. HOTHAN: I have been to that 10 one. 11 The next question dovetails right 12 into the comment of referring to see 13 more Mother's Kitchens. It has to do 14 with the storefronts that will be 15 saved, and my question is, how many 16 separate storefronts of the proposed 17 project will be built? How many 18 separate storefronts will be created? 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: Well, I think 20 what you ought to do, they are going to 21 do the storefronts that are there now. 22 Mr. Delbello, will you step up, 23 please. Am I correct on that, Mr. 24 Delbello, you are going to restore the 25 storefronts that are there? Page 91 1 Proceedings 2 MR. DELBELLO: Those building 3 facades remain. The doorways remain. 4 The store windows remain, and the 5 store. 6 MR. CIANCIULLI: Maybe what you 7 want to do, if this project goes 8 through and they do this, maybe they 9 will do the same to your property. 10 MR. HOTHAN: Absolutely. The work 11 on my property actually hinges and 12 dovetails what is about to happen two 13 doors away from me, so I am very 14 interested in seeing this progress. 15 MR. CIANCIULLI: You may want to 16 get in with them. There they are. 17 MR. HOTHAN: Mr. Delbello did not 18 answer my question. 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: I didn't ask him 20 to answer it. I asked him to answer my 21 question. My question was, are the 22 storefronts staying, and he said yes. 23 He can't make a judgment call on your 24 storefront and neither can I. 25 If you want to paint your Page 92 1 Proceedings 2 storefront pink, I can't tell you not 3 to paint it pink. It's not his job, 4 it's your job. 5 MR. HOTHAN: Okay, understood. My 6 question is, how many actual stores are 7 being programmed? In other words -- 8 MR. CIANCIULLI: Whatever is there 9 now, that is what he is going to 10 program. I am not familiar with how 11 many stores are there now. I can take 12 a look at a picture I have, but what 13 was ever there now, that is their 14 responsibility to restore them. 15 MR. HOTHAN: They are going to be 16 each individual store, or one large big 17 box store? 18 MR. CIANCIULLI: If it's one large 19 building, one large store, eight 20 thousand square feet, he still has to 21 maintain the storefronts. He has -- 22 Mr. Delbello, will you step up, please. 23 Am I correct on that? 24 MR. DELBELLO: I would rather Mr. 25 Lachs, the architect, explain what is Page 93 1 Proceedings 2 going to transpire within those spaces. 3 MR. CIANCIULLI: Mr. Lachs, am I 4 correct on that, that if we have an 5 eight thousand square foot store, one 6 store, the storefronts are going to 7 stand up, am I correct on that? 8 MR. LACHS: That's correct, they 9 would be individual storefronts. The 10 space is designed to allow maximum 11 flexibility by the owner and to divide 12 it into several stores or a single 13 store. 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: There is your 15 answer. 16 MR. HOTHAN: Thank you. The other 17 question I have is, how many other 18 renderings are there of the existing, 19 the existing photographs, the existing 20 structures with the proposed building 21 massing above it? I believe I only saw 22 one angle and that was down Warburton 23 Avenue. 24 I was curious if there are any 25 other renderings where it would show Page 94 1 Proceedings 2 the actual photographs of the existing 3 buildings with the proposed building in 4 its mass. 5 MR. CIANCIULLI: You are talking 6 about looking at the Warburton Avenue 7 side and the Wells Avenue side? 8 MR. HOTHAN: That was the one 9 photograph. I am curious what it would 10 look like looking north of Warburton, 11 north of the project but looking south, 12 and also I am curious what it would 13 look like standing on Baldwin Place and 14 looking west. I am curious what it 15 would look like from looking in Getty 16 Square and from different angles. 17 MR. CIANCIULLI: Number one, what 18 you are looking at now on Warburton 19 Avenue is what you will basically be 20 looking at if the project is done. 21 What you are looking at Wells Avenue is 22 what you are looking at now on Wells 23 Avenue. 24 MR. HOTHAN: Wells Avenue, what I 25 look at now when I stand on Wells Page 95 1 Proceedings 2 Avenue and I look at the structure, I 3 don't see the massing. 4 MR. CIANCIULLI: That's basically 5 what you will look at now. There is a 6 green building there and I think there 7 is an architect or somebody upstairs. 8 That's basically what you are looking 9 at now, am I correct on that, Mr. 10 Delbello? 11 MR. DELBELLO: That's correct, Mr. 12 Chairman. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: Thank you. Now, 14 on North Broadway, obviously that is 15 going to be new. There are no 16 storefronts on North Broadway. That is 17 going to be new. That is where your 18 parking garage is going to be and the 19 residential as well as in the front. 20 The front is set back about 12 or 14 21 feet, okay? 22 MR. HOTHAN: I understand that. 23 However, it's difficult for me to 24 visualize, and I really believe that I 25 am not the only one, you know, that may Page 96 1 Proceedings 2 not be able to visualize what it would 3 be like standing on North Broadway and 4 seeing what the mass would be like. 5 MR. CIANCIULLI: Well, anything 6 that I have, anything in the Building 7 Department, unless it's marked 8 confidential, and in this case right 9 now that I have it's not marked 10 confidential, you have a right to look 11 at it. 12 I directed Mr. Delbello to send 13 Ms. Hoare an Environmental Assessment 14 Form that I have in front of me now, 15 that's a public record, okay, so I 16 can't tell you any more-- I can't tell 17 you how it's going to look except in my 18 opinion, what you see now is what you 19 are going to see except for North 20 Broadway and the height. That's going 21 to be different, obviously. 22 The other stuff is going to be 23 similar to what Mr. Delbello just 24 agreed with that. You are trying to 25 get something, I don't know, I don't Page 97 1 Proceedings 2 think you trying to get me twisted, I 3 don't think you can do that, you are 4 trying to get something that this Board 5 cannot protect. It's difficult to say, 6 okay. I can't tell you what is going 7 to be there except for what I know, 8 what I have seen and what is in my 9 records, what is in the information 10 that was sent to me, and you are 11 welcome to go to City Hall and look at 12 all that information. There is no 13 problem. Commissioner Schneider will 14 give it to you, correct? 15 MS. SCHNEIDER: Yes. 16 MR. HOTHAN: I am curious if there 17 are any other renderings. 18 MR. CIANCIULLI: Whatever I have 19 is there. Any other renderings, I 20 would have to go through this right now 21 and I am not going to do that right 22 now. I might have some pictures from 23 the last meeting, the June meeting. I 24 might have some pictures of a year ago 25 meeting, but if these pictures came to Page 98 1 Proceedings 2 me, the Chairman, the Board, you can go 3 look at them right in City Hall, 87 4 Nepperhan Avenue, okay? 5 MR. HOTHAN: Okay. 6 MR. CIANCIULLI: Anything else you 7 would like to ask me? 8 MR. HOTHAN: No, sir. 9 MR. CIANCIULLI: Thank you. Is 10 there anybody else here who would like 11 to speak in opposition? This gentleman 12 here, please. 13 Are you an attorney, sir? 14 MR. SNYDER: No, sir. 15 MR. CIANCIULLI: Raise your right 16 hand. You solemnly swear to tell the 17 truth, the whole truth and nothing but 18 the truth so help you God? 19 MR. SNYDER: Yes. 20 MR. CIANCIULLI: Your name and 21 address. 22 MR. SNYDER: Robert Schneider, 23 S-N-Y-D-E-R, 9 Manor House Square, 24 Yonkers, 10701. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: Proceed, please. Page 99 1 Proceedings 2 MR. SNYDER: Good evening, Mr. 3 Chairman and members of the Board. If 4 I may, I would like to offer a letter 5 of invitation to the entire Board for a 6 walking tour. 7 MR. CIANCIULLI: Do me a favor, 8 talk a little louder. 9 MR. SNYDER: I am sorry. If I 10 may, I would like to offer a letter of 11 invitation to the entire Board for a 12 walking tour of the Philipse Manor 13 Historic District. The tour will be 14 conducted by the historian, Barrymore 15 Scherer. He previously conducted such 16 tours for the Landmarks Preservation 17 Board, the City Council, state elected 18 officials and others. These are public 19 tours and all are invited. 20 To quote the letter of invitation, 21 and if I may leave copies for each 22 members of the Board and yourself. 23 "As representatives of the 24 original applicants for the Philipse 25 Manor Historic District and the Page 100 1 Proceedings 2 majority of building owners in that 3 district, we wish to invite you, and 4 the members of the Zoning Board of 5 Appeals, to join our historian, 6 Barrymore Scherer, on a guided tour of 7 the new district. 8 There are many issues surrounding 9 the incorporation of new construction 10 into an historic district, and as the 11 ZBA is lead agency on this proposed 12 work force housing project that falls 13 within the Historic District 14 boundaries, we thought it would be 15 useful and informative for the Board 16 members to hear firsthand why this 17 particular block deserved its 18 landmarked status. 19 The Landmarks Board members, City 20 Council members, press and state 21 officials who have already taken this 22 walk with Mr. Scherer all came away 23 with a much improved understanding of 24 the extraordinary amount of Yonkers 25 cultural and architectural history that Page 101 1 Proceedings 2 resides within this one small block. 3 As the original Historic District 4 application stated, all thirteen 5 buildings within the Philipse Manor 6 Historic District are important for 7 several reasons: 8 They represent they represent a 9 variety of significant mid to late 19th 10 century architectural styles that were 11 designed by significant Yonkers 12 architects. This is the last known 13 remaining intact block of 19th century 14 commercial buildings in the downtown. 15 They form a unit harmonious in 16 scale with their dramatic surroundings 17 of hills, cliffs and related 19th 18 century architecture, not to mention a 19 unit that harmonizes with the 20 characteristic Yonkers pattern of 21 intersecting curving streets and with a 22 public square of moderate width and 23 human scale. 24 They represent a period of 25 conspicuous growth of Yonkers downtown Page 102 1 Proceedings 2 following the Civil War, when most of 3 the earlier 19th century buildings, of 4 wood construction and undistinguished 5 in style, were replaced by more 6 distinctive masonry architecture that 7 reflected the commercial, residential 8 and aesthetic desires of a time when 9 Yonkers was increasingly becoming the 10 most important Hudson River town south 11 of Albany. 12 These buildings, and the ones 13 surrounding them, represent Yonkers as 14 a thriving town of the America's gilded 15 age. 16 Most importantly, this block of 17 buildings stands within the closest 18 possible proximity to Philipse Manor 19 Hall, which is probably the most 20 important Colonial house in southern 21 Westchester County, an 18th century 22 mansion whose history is intimately 23 bound up with Yonkers. 24 During the last three decades of 25 the 19th century, when the historic Page 103 1 Proceedings 2 buildings that are landmarked were 3 erected, Philipse Manor Hall served as 4 both Yonkers Town Hall and Yonkers City 5 Hall. 6 This letter had been faxed to the 7 Buildings Department, but because of 8 the vagaries of modern communication, 9 it was most likely lost. 10 It would be a pleasure to conduct 11 a tour for you at your convenience. 12 Thank you very much. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: I have that 14 letter. I think that letter was sent 15 to the Board maybe back in June 16 sometime. 17 MR. SNYDER: July. 18 MR. CIANCIULLI: This gentleman's 19 name that you recommended? 20 MR. SNYDER: Barrymore Scherer. 21 MR. CIANCIULLI: What is he, a 22 historian? 23 MR. SNYDER: He is a historian and 24 an author, and he is quite an expert of 25 these matters. Page 104 1 Proceedings 2 MR. CIANCIULLI: What we'll do, 3 we'll take that into consideration, but 4 I will tell you right now, the Zoning 5 Board of Appeals as a whole will not 6 attend this meeting because -- this 7 TOUR because we have more than a 8 certain amount of members that require 9 a quorum and I have to call a public 10 hearing. 11 If I call a public hearing, I have 12 to have a court reporter and everything 13 else that goes with it, so we are not 14 going to do it. I might attend with 15 another member or something like that, 16 I don't know, but I will tell you this 17 much. We will, if we do attend, bring 18 our Corporation Counsel with us, and 19 more than likely someone from the 20 Building Department and Commissioner 21 Ellman, and we'll give Mr. Delbello his 22 opportunity to come with us and we'll 23 not rehear the case, we'll listen to 24 the gentleman, but he will not go on 25 about this case. He won't talk about Page 105 1 Proceedings 2 this building, won't talk about 3 shadows. He will talk strictly about 4 the historical district, so you can 5 tell him what I said. If he doesn't 6 obey that, we are walking away if we 7 decide to go. 8 MR. SNYDER: Okay. 9 MR. CIANCIULLI: We'll be fair 10 with Mr. Delbello. Mr. Delbello will 11 have his choice to come, maybe some of 12 the members of his team. 13 MR. SNYDER: Certainly. 14 MR. CIANCIULLI: Okay. Any other 15 questions? 16 Mr. Delbello, would you like to 17 sum up? 18 MR. DELBELLO: Yes, Mr. Chairman. 19 I would like to take this opportunity 20 to put this in context a little bit. 21 The speakers that you have heard have 22 been addressing this issue before the 23 City Council, before the Landmarks 24 Board. 25 This matter has been kicking Page 106 1 Proceedings 2 around, let's say, for a very long 3 time. This building has been delayed 4 for a very long time. 5 As you heard, it's a live work 6 affordable housing project in the 7 tradition of the Greystone Foundation 8 that has done this kind of work 9 throughout the City of Yonkers. 10 The issue of landmarking was 11 originally made by application to the 12 Landmarks Board, went to the Planning 13 Board that recommended against the 14 landmarking of this district. 15 Ultimately went to the City Council. 16 The City Council, in its decision 17 to landmark, made it on a condition 18 that only the facades would be 19 preserved, and that the Greystone 20 Foundation would be allowed to 21 construct its building subject to the 22 decision of the Zoning Board, subject 23 to the Planning Board site plan review 24 and subject to whatever the Landmarks 25 Board determined to be the right way of Page 107 1 Proceedings 2 preserving and restoring the facades. 3 All of this has been gone over 4 by the City Council. It's all been 5 gone over by the Landmarks Board and is 6 in the process-- we are still before 7 the Landmarks Board still working out 8 the details of this, but what the 9 project is waiting for right now is 10 your decision so that we know what the 11 bulk of this building is going to look 12 like and what our restrictions are 13 going to be on constructing the 14 building. 15 We then go back to Landmarks to 16 finalize the details of the 17 preservation program. So what you are 18 hearing tonight may be new to you, but 19 it's very very old, not only to me, but 20 to the applicant, to the City Council 21 and the Landmarks Board that has heard 22 all of these arguments and is taking 23 them all under consideration. 24 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 25 MR. CIANCIULLI: Thank you. Page 108 1 Proceedings 2 Ladies and gentlemen, can I have 3 your attention please. Young lady, 4 have a seat, please. 5 I am going to make a motion to 6 continue this hearing. Do I have a 7 second? 8 MR. LANDI: Second. 9 MR. CIANCIULLI: Mrs. Pearson. 10 MRS. PEARSON: For the motion. 11 MR. CIANCIULLI: Mr. Landi. 12 MR. LANDI: For the motion. 13 MR. CIANCIULLI: Mr. Burke. 14 MR. BURKE: For the motion. 15 MR. CIANCIULLI: Ms. Little. 16 MS. LITTLE: For the motion. 17 MR. CIANCIULLI: Mr. Blanchard. 18 MR. BLANCHARD: For the motion. 19 MR. CIANCIULLI: Mr. Singh. 20 MR. SINGH: For the motion. 21 MR. CIANCIULLI: All say for the 22 motion, this case is hereby continued. 23 We'll take about a five minute 24 recess. 25 (Recess.) Page 109 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LANDI: We'll open up the 3 public hearing with case 4945-A which 4 is a area variance for the Cross County 5 Shopping Center. I am not going to 6 read the specs on them, but basically 7 the area variances in question are 8 insufficient side yards, floor area 9 ratio, lot coverage, frontage, height 10 of buildings, off-street parking, 11 height of the parking structure and 12 parking, distances from Macy's to the 13 sidewalks. 14 Mr. Delbello, everybody within 200 15 feet been notified? 16 MR. DELBELLO: I'm sorry, Mr. 17 Chairman? 18 MR. LANDI: Has everyone within 19 200 feet been notified? 20 MR. DELBELLO: Yes, they have. 21 MR. LANDI: Any returns? 22 MR. DELBELLO: Twelve returns. 23 MR. LANDI: Send them back to Mr. 24 Schneider, please. 25 MR. DELBELLO: Yes. Page 110 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LANDI: Thank you. Before I 3 begin, I see some people have come up 4 already who is interested in this 5 project. Is there anybody else 6 interested in this project that wants 7 to come up for it? Okay. 8 For the record, I did receive the 9 information requested on the June 26th 10 public hearing, that being a comparison 11 of the proposed amended site plan 12 previously approved project. I am sure 13 each member of the Board had received 14 that also. Thank you, Mr. Delbello. 15 With the Board's concurrence, the 16 applicant's concurrence, perhaps the 17 best way to handle tonight's public 18 hearing is to address the concerns 19 expressed at the June 26th public 20 hearing related to changes from the 21 July '07 approval as follows: 22 It concerns the hotel, visual 23 height, the Macy's expansion, the 24 parking structure, visual heights, 25 traffic, noise, parking spaces, and the Page 111 1 Proceedings 2 rock crushing facility relocation. 3 We have any concerns from Board 4 members? Okay, hearing none, Mr. 5 Delbello, will you please proceed. If 6 you can keep your comments to those 7 concerns, we'll get out of here. 8 MR. DELBELLO: Okay. Thank you 9 very much, Mr. Chairman. We have a 10 full power point presentation which we 11 don't intend to go through with you 12 this evening, but we have the ability 13 to call up any slide that you would 14 want to see in response to those five 15 concerns. What I would like to do is 16 introduce to you the architects who are 17 designing this project. They are 18 called the 595 Architectural Firm, and 19 Mr. Nick Igel is with us this evening. 20 You met him at the last meeting, and we 21 would like to show you on the slides 22 right now the parking structure and 23 what we have been able to do with it, 24 and then show you the north deck 25 because you did raise issues with Page 112 1 Proceedings 2 regard to the landscaping on the north 3 deck, and we would like to show you 4 that. 5 We will at the same time be able 6 to show you what is happening with 7 regard to the Macy's expansion because 8 it's connected to the parking deck, and 9 we can show you what is happening to 10 the hotel because that is connected to 11 the parking deck, so that would leave 12 only the traffic study, I believe, for 13 us to go into, and Mr. Rich Pearson 14 from John Meyer Consulting is here and 15 he can go into the traffic with you. 16 So, Nick, Mr. Igel, and if we can 17 put up on the screen the first 18 pictures. 19 MR. LANDI: Sir, you were sworn in 20 at the last public hearing. I remind 21 you, you are still under oath. 22 MR. IGEL: Nick Igel, I-G-E-L, 505 23 Design, Boulder Colorado. 24 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good 25 evening, members of the Board. This is Page 113 1 Proceedings 2 the view of the north parking deck. 3 There were concerns raised that it 4 was-- that it needed some more 5 landscaping, some more screening, so we 6 took those comments to heart. 7 We have added a total of 25 trees 8 to this scheme. You can see that we 9 have added quite a bit around the 10 perimeter on the parking deck itself. 11 You can see the trees that we have 12 added. We added nine trees on the 13 deck. They come at great expense. We 14 lost 18 parking spaces, and as you 15 know, parking spaces and structured 16 parking are very expensive, and then to 17 restructure those decks to accommodate 18 the weight of the trees and the soil 19 needed to have them actually thrive and 20 become decent size trees so they do 21 provide the screening that we are after 22 is fairly expensive, so we have done 23 that, and we have also added a number 24 of trees along the south side of the 25 deck between the actual deck and the Page 114 1 Proceedings 2 retail here. 3 I don't know if everyone knows, 4 but the deck right now is at the same 5 level as the retail first floor along 6 here, and that's what we at least think 7 is the historic level of the parking 8 lot when the project was first built. 9 As you all know, there is a lot of 10 asphalt out there, and that parking lot 11 has sunk considerably. 12 When I was here last oh, two weeks 13 ago, I looked in this parking lot and 14 in the existing parking lot there are 15 four or five trees, probably two of 16 them are good size, so what we are 17 putting back there is more landscaping 18 than is currently there right now. 19 Juan, if you want to go to the 20 Macy's parking structure and I can talk 21 about that. 22 You can see in this view, that is 23 Macy's there, that is the parking 24 structure and that is the proposed 25 hotel. This is the Macy's building Page 115 1 Proceedings 2 previously. We are asking you for a 3 six foot variance in the height for 4 this parking deck, and now we are 5 asking you, we have lowered that two 6 feet and I will explain to you how that 7 happened. 8 The first level of the parking 9 deck is level with the first level of 10 Macy's, and this is something Macy's 11 has requested, that we be able to walk 12 straight from the parking garage into 13 their store, no ramps, stairs, anything 14 like that, and then the second level we 15 have a bridge across to Macy's, so the 16 floor to floor height is in that 17 17 foot range so that again, we can walk 18 directly from the second level into the 19 Macy's store. 20 Then we have three parking levels 21 above that, and we were able to take 22 eight inches out of each of those 23 parking levels for a total of two feet, 24 and that gives us a floor to floor 25 height of eight foot four inches. Page 116 1 Proceedings 2 We know the City of Yonkers is 3 concerned about light, air and parking 4 garages, parking structures, so we are 5 trying to keep that as high as we 6 could. Of course the first two levels, 7 the first level floor to floor being in 8 that 17 foot height allows emergency 9 vehicles and a lot of light into that 10 first level, allows some loading things 11 to happen in there. 12 MR. DELBELLO: Let me also point 13 out, if we could, Nick. The original 14 plan, the original approved plan had a 15 Macy's expansion to the north, 50,000 16 square foot expansion to the north. 17 Macy's has now requested that expansion 18 occur on the south, so if we could 19 point that out, the expansion to the 20 south is what is almost contiguous. 21 MR. IGEL: This is the new 22 expansion to the south here. This is 23 the existing Macy's building right here 24 and this is the expansion to the south, 25 and then the parking garage to the Page 117 1 Proceedings 2 south. 3 The thing with the Macy's 4 expansion to the south does, as you 5 know, you have probably all been to the 6 center, that main east-west shopping 7 concourse doesn't really align with 8 Macy's. It doesn't have much to do 9 with their store layout. They really 10 like you to enter, you know, on access 11 of that main east-west shopping avenue, 12 and then be able to lay out their store 13 in the most efficient manner possible 14 with that entry and access. It makes a 15 lot of sense from a retail standpoint, 16 makes a lot of sense, I am an 17 architect, makes a lot of sense from a 18 design standpoint. So you see Macy's 19 door on access when you go down the 20 east-west confluence. 21 MR. DELBELLO: Now you might also 22 be able to point out what the hotel 23 was. 24 So the issues were more 25 landscaping on the north deck. Page 118 1 Proceedings 2 Secondly, reduce the height of the 3 garage to the best we could. We took 4 another two feet off the garage. 5 Macy's expansion is to the south now 6 rather than the north, and the hotel, 7 describe the height of the hotel. 8 MR. IGEL: The hotel height is 60 9 feet. That's the office building right 10 there and it's lower than the existing 11 office building. I don't know, Juan, 12 there is a view from-- I don't know 13 which slide it is, I will show you the 14 view. 15 MR. DELBELLO: To explain it 16 further, in the original approvals, the 17 office building was going to remain, 18 and we studied as part of SEQRA, using 19 that as a hotel, an alternate as part 20 of the SEQRA studies. 21 The decision by the owners now has 22 been made to demolish that building, 23 the office -- the old hospital, to 24 demolish it and to build actually a 25 five story or six story hotel. Page 119 1 Proceedings 2 MR. IGEL: It is a five story 3 hotel, one level of retail at the base 4 which is our 17 foot floor to floor, 5 and then four room floors above that. 6 The current office tower shown 7 right here in this view from 8 Vredenburgh is nine stories tall. The 9 hotel goes right in there, and if Juan 10 will give me the next slide, I can show 11 you where that is. 12 MR. LANDI: The hotel is connected 13 to the parking garage also? 14 MR. IGEL: You can see a little 15 sliver of the parking garage just past 16 the Cross County Mall here. The 17 parking garage is right in there and 18 this is the hotel, this is the level of 19 retail at the base, and the one, two, 20 three-- I figure we are missing one 21 floor because of the retail height 22 there, but that's where you see the 23 four floors. 24 MR. DELBELLO: This is from 25 Vredenburgh looking north over the Page 120 1 Proceedings 2 movie theater. 3 MS. LITTLE: The movie theater is 4 on the left? 5 MR. DELBELLO: Yes. 6 MR. LANDI: Covers the parking 7 structure south of that, the hotel, 8 traffic, noise, parking spaces. 9 MR. DELBELLO: Let's put traffic 10 up next. 11 MR. PEARSON: Good evening, 12 Richard Pearson with John Meyer 13 Consulting. 14 MR. LANDI: I would like to remind 15 you, you were sworn in at the 26th 16 meeting and you are still under oath. 17 MR. PEARSON: I understand. Our 18 office has been involved with the 19 preparation of the traffic studies and 20 access improvements throughout the 21 course of the Cross County Shopping 22 Center renovation and expansion. 23 Recently we have been working with the 24 City of Yonkers Traffic Engineering 25 Department as well as their consultant, Page 121 1 Proceedings 2 John Collins Engineering regarding the 3 amended plan that's currently before 4 your Board. 5 In terms of traffic and traffic 6 improvements, all the off-site 7 improvements that were previously 8 proposed with the approved application 9 are currently proposed with the amended 10 application. 11 The only change to the traffic 12 improvements is an internal change 13 where there will be a traffic signal at 14 the access to the garage in the 15 vicinity of Macy's which was not part 16 of the original application, but based 17 on the relocation of the parking 18 structure and increased traffic volumes 19 in that area, we are proposing a 20 traffic signal within our site 21 driveway. 22 The timing for that traffic signal 23 will be under the control of the City 24 of Yonkers Traffic Engineering 25 Department, so if they have any Page 122 1 Proceedings 2 concerns with the operation of the 3 signal, they will have the ability to 4 modify that traffic signal operation. 5 MR. LANDI: Does the Board have 6 any questions on traffic? 7 MR. DELBELLO: Thank you. Mr. 8 Chairman, Mr. Anthony Guccione from 9 John Meyer Consulting will outline for 10 you the parking that we have on the 11 site and how we are treating it going 12 forward. 13 MR. LANDI: Okay, Mr. Guccione, 14 you were sworn in at the June 26th 15 meeting, you are still under oath. 16 MR. GUCCIONE: That's correct. 17 MR. DELBELLO: You are still under 18 oath. 19 MR. GUCCIONE: Yes. The proposed 20 amended project is a total of 5,663 21 parking spaces required for the 22 project. As with the previous approval 23 for the project, we are proposing to 24 land bank 354 parking spaces. We are 25 also requesting a variance for 101 Page 123 1 Proceedings 2 parking spaces. Ninety-one of those 3 spaces are associated with the Macy's 4 stock room on the upper level of the 5 Macy's expansion that is proposed, and 6 then there are 10 spaces being required 7 to be requested to be land banked. 8 In association with ATM's on the 9 project, there are five ATM's being 10 proposed. The zoning requires two 11 spaces per ATM, so we are asking for a 12 variance for 10 spaces there because 13 those ATM's are for people at the site. 14 Nobody will drive to the site, in 15 the applicant's opinion, to use those 16 ATM's. There are people shopping there 17 anyway, so the 5,653 minus the 354 land 18 bank minus 101 requested spaces for the 19 variance result in a requirement of 20 5,208 parking spaces, and that is the 21 number that is being provided on the 22 site. 23 MR. LANDI: The land bank, can you 24 kind of explain how that is going to 25 work? I understand you are going to do Page 124 1 Proceedings 2 some kind of study at some point 3 relating to building that structure. 4 MR. DELBELLO: Let me explain. 5 Under the City Code, the Planning Board 6 has the authority to be able to defer a 7 certain number of parking spaces that 8 might be required but are not 9 necessarily needed at that point in 10 time, so what we have done is, we have 11 taken these 354 spaces which are 12 planned for a parking deck on the north 13 side of the Sears building, sort of to 14 the west of the old Sizzlers building 15 in that low parking area. We have 16 actually planned to build deck parking 17 in there to hold 354 spaces. 18 We have been before the Planning 19 Board. It's been studied as part of 20 the SEQRA EIS process. It's been 21 approved by the Planning Board and then 22 deferred so we don't have to build it 23 right away, but the plans are in place. 24 The approvals are in place. Everything 25 is there. Page 125 1 Proceedings 2 There is an understanding, a 3 formula that's been worked out with the 4 Planning Board, ultimately with the 5 city, actually, that says on certain 6 things occurring, we would have to 7 build that deck, and if those things 8 don't occur, we can continue deferring 9 the construction of that deck. 10 The theory behind this is, we have 11 been studying the parking at the Cross 12 County for a very long time going back 13 to the days of the Stop and Shop store. 14 We did parking studies. We restriped 15 the whole place and so forth. We 16 restudied it again for the initial 17 Planning Board approvals that we have 18 received. 19 We have actually photographed from 20 the air, the parking at the Cross 21 County Shopping Center on the busiest 22 days of the year, on the very busiest 23 days of the year which I don't know 24 which they are, like the Saturday 25 before Christmas and so forth. Never Page 126 1 Proceedings 2 is more than 80 percent of the parking 3 spaces being used. There is always 20 4 percent available, and for whatever 5 reason, the Yonkers Code is a very, I 6 want to use the right term, it's a very 7 conservative code in that it requires 8 what we think is a great deal more 9 parking than is actually needed, so to 10 comply with the code, we developed the 11 capability of building all the parking, 12 but we don't put it in place unless 13 it's needed, and the city makes that 14 determination. 15 MR. LANDI: Refresh my memory. 16 The approval that you received in '07 17 for the additional 101 spaces, they 18 approved 80 more spaces at that time, 19 or I have the wrong number? 20 MR. DELBELLO: Deferred. 21 MR. LANDI: Not deferred, actually 22 granted a variance. Was it 81 spaces? 23 MR. DELBELLO: Ninety-one. 24 MR. GUCCIONE: For the Macy's 25 stock room. At that point we weren't Page 127 1 Proceedings 2 proposing the ATM's so we weren't 3 asking for those additional 10 at the 4 time, so it was 91 for the Macy's stock 5 room. 6 MR. LANDI: Ninety-one approved 7 back in '07, now raising it to 101, an 8 additional 10, and we reaffirmed the 9 91. 10 MR. GUCCIONE: Correct. 11 MR. LANDI: Okay. 12 MR. DELBELLO: You also, Mr. 13 Chairman, raised the issue of the rock 14 crusher. I would like to ask Sean 15 Cutt, who is the project manager from 16 the Macerich Companies. 17 As you know, the Macerich 18 Companies have the responsibility for 19 running and managing the Cross County 20 Shopping Center and also are 21 responsible for the reconstruction, and 22 Sean Cutt is the project manager for 23 all purposes of reconstruction and he 24 can explain what is happening with the 25 rock crusher. Page 128 1 Proceedings 2 MR. LANDI: Mr. Cutt, are you an 3 attorney. 4 MR. CUTT: I am not. 5 MR. LANDI: Please raise your 6 right hand. You swear to tell the 7 whole truth and nothing but the truth 8 so help you God? 9 MR. CUTT: I do. Thank you. Sean 10 Cutt. 11 As Mr. Delbello said, I am 12 overseeing the project development for 13 Macerich. We operate the center for 14 ownership, and the question or the 15 presentation tonight is to address the 16 rock crushing operation. 17 The current approved plan, being 18 the light shaded plan here, I don't 19 know if it's coming out dark enough 20 here, the old Stop and Shop, which many 21 of you are probably familiar with, we 22 agreed to do the rock crushing 23 operation throughout the first two 24 phases in the basement of the old Stop 25 and Shop, and the purpose of that was Page 129 1 Proceedings 2 to buffer the sound and the visuals of 3 the rock crushing operation. 4 Primarily what we do is recycle 5 the material that we excavate on-site. 6 Many of you know the Kimball Avenue 7 knoll especially is all rock, so as 8 they remove the rock, they transport it 9 down into that basement space. 10 There is a small rock crushing 11 facility in there. They grind it up, 12 recycle it, and then we use it back on 13 the site for, you know, crushed stone 14 material, so it's more of a recycling 15 area and it's small equipment that they 16 use to grind it. 17 By the end of this construction 18 season where we like to finish by the 19 Thanksgiving holiday shopping season, 20 we have to restore that back to surface 21 parking, so when we in-fill that 22 basement, we remove the foundation, 23 remove the basement slab, fill it up 24 and put it back to surface parking to 25 blend in with the general area there. Page 130 1 Proceedings 2 It will be surface parking for the 3 holiday of '08. Starting in January of 4 2009, we are going to start the rock 5 removal up on this Kimball Avenue area 6 here, actually be starting that in the 7 coming weeks, but in '09 when we do 8 that, we will not have a rock crushing 9 facility for that. 10 What we are proposing in this 11 general area here, if you go on-site 12 today, that is fenced off and it's a 13 construction staging area today. We 14 are proposing to use the rock crushing 15 facility in there. 16 Elevation of the basement slab 17 today to the surface parking lot 18 elevation today are very similar. As 19 you know, that north parking field has 20 settled, so elevations are the same. 21 We feel it offers the same sound 22 buffering to the community. 23 MR. LANDI: Mr. Cutt, what are you 24 doing to mitigate noise, dust, 25 everything else that is involved with Page 131 1 Proceedings 2 the rock crushing operation? 3 MR. CUTT: Number one is, we are 4 only running one machine currently. We 5 are able, pretty much through a few day 6 shift, keeping up with the recycling of 7 the material. It's a smaller machine. 8 It's not the larger machines that you 9 see in a mining operation, so it's 10 meant to be an on-site rock crushing 11 facility. 12 The sound is minimized primarily 13 by just doing it during working 14 business hours. We work from 6 to 6, I 15 believe is the hours of operation, from 16 7 to 6, 7 to 6, so we are maintaining 17 it during the working hours of the 18 business, and secondly with the dust, 19 they have a dewatering operation. 20 As they crush the rock, bring it 21 in and haul it in, there is on-staff 22 people to spray water on it and keep 23 the dust down. 24 MR. LANDI: Are we talking seven 25 days a week? Page 132 1 Proceedings 2 MR. CUTT: Five days a week, 3 Mondays through Fridays. 4 MR. LANDI: No holidays? 5 MR. CUTT: No holidays. 6 MS. LITTLE: I have a question 7 about this removal of this bedrock area 8 here. Many of the neighbors are very, 9 very concerned about this. 10 If the area, I am understanding 11 this parking area adjacent to the east 12 of the Sizzler building that is going 13 to be removed, you are talking about 14 that as being deferred parking, is that 15 right? I mean, I am trying to 16 understand. 17 MR. DELBELLO: The deferred 18 parking -- 19 MS. LITTLE: This area, can I 20 point this out to you? Is this the 21 deferred area parking? 22 MR. CUTT: To your left. 23 MR. DELBELLO: The deferred 24 parking is the current surface parking 25 lot just to the north of the Sears Page 133 1 Proceedings 2 building at the lower level, the lower 3 level. 4 MR. CUTT: This is the surface 5 area parking. 6 MS. LITTLE: Does this parking 7 exist? 8 MR. CUTT: It exists today. 9 MS. LITTLE: Why is that bedrock 10 being removed if there is nothing going 11 on? 12 MR. CUTT: Bedrock, believe it or 13 not -- 14 MR. DELBELLO: Let me suggest you 15 go through everything, putting in the 16 water line and so forth. 17 MR. CUTT: I will explain the 18 sequence. 19 MR. DELBELLO: What I asked Mr. 20 Cutt to do is go through in detail what 21 is going to be taking place over the 22 next number of weeks very soon in that 23 cut area there. There is water lines 24 that have to go in, some road 25 replacement, the cut of the mound and Page 134 1 Proceedings 2 so forth. Go into some detail on that. 3 MR. CUTT: Sure. You have asked a 4 couple of questions. Number one, so 5 everybody is clear, this edge of that 6 parking lot where it's the edge of the 7 green is very similar as it is today. 8 It was surface parking. The elevation 9 actually is going to come down. 10 As you know, Sizzler sits at the 11 highest knoll of that property. What 12 we would like to do is flatten it so we 13 can add two smaller structures. They 14 are combined the same size as the 15 Sizzler is today in square footage, so 16 this knoll would be lowered. 17 MR. DELBELLO: Exactly how much 18 from four feet or so? 19 MR. CUTT: About from this point 20 east, four feet. 21 MR. DELBELLO: That road going in, 22 that driveway going in is going to be 23 dropped four feet to do away with that 24 hump in the road. 25 MR. CUTT: This access now is Page 135 1 Proceedings 2 unsafe, so lowering that makes the 3 visibility of driving in and 4 pedestrians walking much safer, and it 5 allows a much better visual area on 6 that top part. 7 MS. LITTLE: And that ramp or 8 driveway in is directly-- isn't 9 directly from the Cross County Parkway? 10 MR. CUTT: One lane right here is 11 dedicated off the Cross County. 12 MS. LITTLE: You aren't going to 13 go on Kimball-- 14 MR. CUTT: It's directly into the 15 site. 16 MR. DELBELLO: Point out the 17 deferred parking. 18 MR. CUTT: This is the deferred 19 parking, and again, it's an existing 20 surface parking lot that is there 21 today, looks like one structure above 22 it similar to this north parking here, 23 same proposal. 24 MS. LITTLE: Right. 25 MR. CUTT: In addition, this will Page 136 1 Proceedings 2 be an interior access only, three 3 lanes. This will now become the exit 4 sliding down here. 5 MS. LITTLE: That's new. That's 6 where you have to remove the bedrock? 7 MR. CUTT: The way we are going to 8 cut that, we have a rendering that we 9 can show you tonight. 10 As soon as you enter the site, 11 it's going to turn 90 degrees, head 12 north, turn again and then head east, 13 so really that is a hidden driveway, 14 and we'll buffer it with landscaping, 15 but as you try to level that out, that 16 is the rock that we are going to cut a 17 shelf into, but in this entire area, 18 every utility we put in the ground, 19 whether it's conduit for fiber optics, 20 gas, water, sewer, everything has to be 21 cut into that rock physically, so as we 22 jackhammer that rock out, that will be 23 transported to the recycling area, 24 crushed and used in the site, so it's 25 as simple as all the utilities on this Page 137 1 Proceedings 2 general area east of Xavier Drive. All 3 that utility, excavation is crushed 4 rock. 5 MS. LITTLE: You don't have to 6 remove it all? 7 MR. CUTT: As they cut the trench 8 for the utility. 9 MS. LITTLE: On Kimball Avenue as 10 you are driving there, there is a 11 buffer for the neighbors across the 12 way? 13 MR. CUTT: Correct. 14 MS. LITTLE: That has trees and so 15 forth and so on. It does act as a 16 buffer. 17 MR. CUTT: Correct. The rock will 18 stay there, absolutely. 19 MR. DELBELLO: Describe how you 20 will put that water line in. 21 MR. CUTT: Do we have a rendering? 22 MR. DELBELLO: Put that on. 23 MR. CUTT: As Richard Pearson 24 mentioned, all this is on the traffic 25 improvements. This is the off-site Page 138 1 Proceedings 2 traffic improvements that are 3 previously approved. This work we are 4 starting by October lst, and the idea 5 is, we are not permitted to have any 6 additional square footage other than 7 the shopping center previously approved 8 before the changes without these 9 improvements, so these improvements are 10 necessary. We will start them now. 11 This will be the first cut to get 12 this water line in. I don't know if 13 you can all see it. 14 MR. DELBELLO: Which will occur in 15 the roadbed of the new exit. 16 MR. CUTT: The rock formation 17 stays there. We are cutting a flat 18 shelf for that roadway, and again the 19 idea, if you would see the original 20 plans that the co-op's consultant, the 21 traffic engineer originally proposed 22 was to come straight in, we feel 23 mitigates the visual impact by turning 24 it and going against it and adding 25 additional landscaped buffering in Page 139 1 Proceedings 2 between Kimball and the road. 3 MS. LITTLE: Thank you. 4 MR. CUTT: We have a model 5 rendering of the site. What is key 6 here, we did it with an actual-- this 7 is the photo of the foliage there 8 today. This would be the opening, and 9 again cars would go diagonally up the 10 hill. This buffering would stay in 11 place and additional buffering over 12 here to buffer the cars, and this is 13 the top of the hill. That white line 14 is the existing lowered by four feet, 15 so you can still see it's going to 16 buffer, and this is Sears here. 17 MS. LITTLE: Okay. Thank you. 18 MR. LANDI: I am going back on the 19 rock crusher. You said 7 to 6 five 20 days a week, all the rock that is 21 crushed will remain on the site, none 22 is going to be taken off the site, none 23 is to be sold? 24 MR. CUTT: Correct, it's a 25 balanced site as far as the rock. Soil Page 140 1 Proceedings 2 is not the case. Soil, if it needs to 3 be removed, if it's unsuitable for 4 fill, we do remove soil. As far as 5 rock, it can all be recycled and used 6 as a fill material. 7 MR. DELBELLO: Mr. Chairman, I 8 think that responds to those initial 9 issues that you raised. 10 MR. LANDI: Thank you. Does the 11 Board have any concerns or comments? 12 MR. BURKE: I was wondering, if we 13 received these new renderings, they are 14 shown on the power point? 15 MR. LANDI: The renderings? 16 MR. DELBELLO: We have the 17 rendering. 18 MR. BURKE: The new plans that are 19 on there with the existing hotel. 20 MR. LANDI: Yes, you should have 21 received in your packet basically what 22 was approved. 23 MR. BURKE: Okay. Thank you. 24 MR. LANDI: In addition, it was 25 also written, you should have received Page 141 1 Proceedings 2 this. 3 MR. BURKE: I didn't get that. 4 MR. LANDI: Any other comments, 5 questions from the Board? At this 6 time, I will open it up to the public. 7 Is there anyone here who would like to 8 speak to this project, for or against? 9 I will leave it up to you. Okay. 10 MR. GROMAN: I was sworn in in 11 June. 12 MR. LANDI: What is your name? 13 MR. GROMAN: Paul Groman. 14 MR. LANDI: Yes, you were sworn in 15 and you are still under oath. 16 MR. GROMAN: I should hope so. 17 Paul Groman, 1304 Midland Avenue, 18 Yonkers, 10704. I, Diana Winocur and 19 Irene Shadoy (Ph) who is the President 20 of the Board of Kimberly Gardens 21 directly across from the proposed rock 22 cut, can I use your cardboard? Thanks. 23 We are here. The proposed cut in 24 the rock is over here which you saw 25 when it was closer to you. We have Page 142 1 Proceedings 2 been involved in this development for 3 three years. Mrs. Shadoy, who is the 4 President of the Board, was involved in 5 an initial consortium of condos and 6 co-ops along Midland Avenue which goes 7 in this direction, about a driveway, 8 changes in driveway C. This is the 9 driveway from two ways to one way in. 10 We have a document which will be 11 introduced at your hearing, Mr. Ellman, 12 the history of all of the altercations 13 that went on about the efficacy of 14 changing this driveway and then making 15 a cut in the rock wall which separates 16 a residential neighborhood from a 17 commercial neighborhood. 18 By omission, what they are not 19 mentioning is more critical than the 20 dotted line here, or that cars are 21 coming out. The problem is, according 22 to what I have heard, the initial 23 traffic engineer that the building 24 hired said yeah, it's a good idea to 25 put that through, this cut in the rock. Page 143 1 Proceedings 2 This wasn't the developer's idea, it 3 came from this consortium, but he said 4 it ain't going to do any good, it will 5 only hold five cars per traffic light. 6 So how can you evacuate 5600 parking 7 spaces in this shopping center from the 8 north parking lot, not the structure, 9 if they have to come here and wait five 10 at a time to get out? 11 Now they come down the hill and 12 they can get out. You are creating a 13 driveway to nowhere because it will 14 only be a left-hand north turn. That 15 was not stated at this meeting, it was 16 stated at previous meetings with Mr. 17 Ellman but not tonight, only a left 18 turn north. 19 If you want to go south on 20 Kimball, you will have to come down to 21 an exit by Stop and Shop and then go 22 out to Kimball Avenue and make a right 23 turn to go south. They have not 24 addressed the traffic, that is traffic 25 build-up here during holiday time from Page 144 1 Proceedings 2 here at Kimball and Midland, across to 3 Bronx River Road where there is a strip 4 mall where cars back up into the 5 Midland traffic going across to Mount 6 Vernon. That has never been addressed. 7 The developer has said they will 8 hire cops, traffic police for the next 9 five years to wave traffic through the 10 intersection of Kimball and Midland. 11 They have not resolved that. 12 They are having a loop come off 13 the highway. This will take a 14 percentage of traffic off the surface 15 streets. There is no need, then, in my 16 opinion, to make this one way in if you 17 are no longer having-- will no longer 18 have surface traffic coming off the 19 highway to come in and have three lanes 20 heading south, one lane then coming in. 21 They have not addressed this. You 22 have a lane coming in, a lane coming 23 out, both can make a turn into what we 24 call the Sears parking lot, right? So 25 the guy coming in this way wants to go Page 145 1 Proceedings 2 into the parking lot and go into Sears, 3 that is a left turn. 4 They had first said they wanted an 5 unimpeded left turn. Ain't no such 6 thing if the guys coming out of the 7 parking lot have to make a right turn. 8 They have not addressed what they 9 are sticking up here, maybe a fountain, 10 rotary, a stop sign. Maybe they will 11 hire another traffic cop. If traffic 12 backs up here and crosses the driveway, 13 then you will have driveway C backing 14 out into Kimball and that way. 15 MR. LANDI: Mr. Groman, I have to 16 stop you. With all due respect, this 17 is not a zoning issue. That's an issue 18 that is to be brought up before the 19 Planning Board. 20 MR. GROMAN: It will be. It has 21 been, and they introduced it here 22 because we would not like them to begin 23 working on this exit. 24 MR. LANDI: I asked them about the 25 rock crushing operation. Page 146 1 Proceedings 2 MR. GROMAN: Well, we don't want 3 that, but you heard it. You want me to 4 go to something else? 5 MR. LANDI: I want you to stick to 6 the zoning. 7 MR. GROMAN: Okay. Well, that's 8 the main issue. The other issue is, we 9 have not seen visuals of the hotel that 10 show you what the hotel will actually 11 look like. 12 We have not seen pictures of the 13 expanded Macy's and what it will 14 actually look like or the parking 15 garage. All you have seen is that 16 sketch. 17 You have no idea what the wall 18 will look like from Central Avenue. It 19 is going to be a barrier 52 feet high 20 and how many hundreds of feet long that 21 won't be interesting to anybody. 22 These buildings that they are 23 going to put up or reconstruct will be 24 here for 50 years, well after they go 25 away. We will have to live with what Page 147 1 Proceedings 2 the Board approves. 3 If we don't put their nose to the 4 grindstone and come up with designs, 5 you were talking about designs with the 6 building on Warburton Avenue, those 7 buildings are there for two hundred 8 years, let's say. You are going to 9 have a huge white mess over here, the 10 wall of Macy's and the wall of the 11 parking garage, and the last thing I 12 would like to address before today Anna 13 gets up here is the north parking lot, 14 because the community has complained 15 about trees, now they are talking about 16 trees. 17 This is how many acres of flat 18 cement on a deck that will radiate heat 19 in the summer and be a complete 20 wasteland the rest of the year when 21 there are no cars there. It will be an 22 eyesore in this part of Yonkers, the 23 most heavily trafficked part of 24 Yonkers. You will have a huge white 25 wall along Central Avenue and I 87, and Page 148 1 Proceedings 2 you will have a vast field of cement. 3 Let's get some more design into 4 it. Let's get some more aesthetics 5 into it. Let the Zoning Board say we 6 can't accept this, it doesn't conform 7 to what we want for a greater Yonkers. 8 Diana Winocur. 9 MR. LANDI: Thank you. 10 MR. GROMAN: Thank you very much. 11 MS. WINOCUR: Mr. Chairman, 12 members of the Board: I also appeared 13 at the last meeting so I imagine I was 14 sworn in. 15 MR. LANDI: Who are you? 16 MS. WINOCUR: Diana Winocur, 1304 17 Midland Avenue, which is directly 18 across the street from the shopping 19 center. 20 MR. LANDI: You were sworn in last 21 time so you are still under oath. 22 MS. WINOCUR: Mr. Groman and I are 23 duly authorized as members of the 24 co-op, we have been authorized by the 25 Board to speak on behalf of the over Page 149 1 Proceedings 2 400 residents. 3 We are adamantly opposed to any 4 change in the variances that have been 5 granted to Mr. Delbello. We object to 6 changes, and we object to the fact that 7 he will not in any way honor the change 8 we requested. 9 The change that was requested is 10 reconsideration of this breaking of our 11 rock wall. As one of your members 12 stated, this is a buffer zone, a buffer 13 zone between us and the commercial 14 area. 15 This commercial area is getting 16 larger and larger. That is why it's 17 becoming more and more important to us. 18 We object to the hotel because 19 this will be a 24 hour concern. It 20 will be people coming in and out of 21 this area constantly. We will have 22 people who think that our co-op is a 23 part of the shopping center. They will 24 deposit shopping carts. They will 25 deposit their -- they will come into Page 150 1 Proceedings 2 our front yard, so to speak. 3 I am sure, ladies and gentlemen, 4 you would not want people in your own 5 front yard as we would be experiencing 6 here. 7 We feel that this area is a unique 8 part as was brought out before. It's a 9 unique part of our history. I have 10 been living in that area over 27 years. 11 I have also lived on Long Island. 12 There is no shopping center that is so 13 close in proximity to a residential 14 area as our co-op is to this shopping 15 center. 16 We have to deal with the traffic, 17 the noise, the pollution, the loss of 18 parking, the crime that overdevelopment 19 of this center will cause. 20 We are asking for small 21 consideration, preservation of our rock 22 wall. We experienced the large 23 development of this area. We have the 24 multiplex. We have the smaller 25 shopping center. We have the larger Page 151 1 Proceedings 2 improvements at Sarah Lawrence College. 3 We have the low income housing that was 4 built on Midland Avenue. We have the 5 Super Stop and Shop. We have the 6 traffic from the raceway. 7 There is only so much that a small 8 area can withstand before it goes over 9 the breaking point. We live there. We 10 want to continue to live there. I am 11 sure Mr. Delbello would not want 12 someone encroaching on his mega mansion 13 in the area that he lives in. 14 MR. LANDI: Keep your remarks to 15 this. 16 MS. WINOCUR: We only have a small 17 piece of the pie and we would like to 18 preserve it. I am getting a little 19 nervous because I am not a public 20 speaker. I am not used to dealing with 21 politics, so to speak. The only 22 experience I have had with politics is 23 voting. This is my first foray into 24 representing the community. 25 MR. LANDI: You are doing very Page 152 1 Proceedings 2 well except for your comments with Mr. 3 Delbello. 4 MS. WINOCUR: I guess I am getting 5 upset because he is adamantly opposed 6 to any consideration for us, yet we are 7 expected to give consideration to his 8 new plans for the area. 9 I have been to the meeting since 10 the beginning. A hotel was never 11 mentioned. This plan with the new exit 12 will not help the traffic flow. We 13 experience it every Christmas. This 14 will not help at all, and we just ask 15 that this be reconsidered. We do not 16 want the destruction of our quiet 17 stable residential area. 18 Members of the Board, we just ask 19 that you consider us, and we have faith 20 in you. It was brought out earlier 21 that you will consider the needs of the 22 residents above the needs of big 23 business. We realize that the shopping 24 center needs to be reconfigured and 25 needs to be improved, but it should not Page 153 1 Proceedings 2 destroy the surrounding community. 3 Thank you very much. 4 MR. BLANCHARD: Excuse me, Mr. 5 Chairman, just for one of your remarks, 6 not to criticize, there is no politics 7 here. Anything on this Board, there is 8 no politics. 9 MS. WINOCUR: Community 10 involvement, so to speak. 11 MR. BLANCHARD: We are all from 12 different places and different areas 13 and different neighborhoods. There is 14 no politics involved in this zoning. I 15 just wanted to state that. 16 MS. WINOCUR: As I said, I am new 17 at this and I appreciate your help. 18 MR. LANDI: Any other comments 19 from the Board? Yes. 20 MRS. PEARSON: Another comment 21 too. You said you have been to the 22 meetings and that this is the first 23 time that you heard mention of a hotel? 24 MS. WINOCUR: Yes, that's correct. 25 MRS. PEARSON: I would like to Page 154 1 Proceedings 2 correct you on that. The hotel was 3 mentioned at other meetings. 4 MS. WINOCUR: Maybe a closed 5 meeting, I am talking about. 6 MRS. PEARSON: No, we haven't had 7 any closed meetings on this. 8 MS. WINOCUR: I know at the 9 meetings we have had at the Will 10 Library there was never a hotel ever 11 mentioned. 12 MRS. PEARSON: At the zoning 13 meetings. 14 MS. WINOCUR: I don't know if that 15 was the zoning meeting. Those were the 16 initial community outreach meetings, 17 and there was never presented any plan 18 for a hotel. I am sorry if I 19 misunderstood. People in our building 20 understood otherwise. 21 MR. LANDI: Anyone else who care 22 to speak in favor? 23 MR. GROMAN: No. 24 MR. LANDI: Any other Board 25 comments at this time? Page 155 1 Proceedings 2 Mr. Delbello, would you like to 3 sum up? 4 MR. DELBELLO: Yes, just very 5 briefly. We understand the concerns, 6 obviously, and these concerns are 7 expressed to the Planning Board, and I 8 would like to point out that the 9 Planning Board in this city has 10 architectural review authority and they 11 use it, and they do go into textures 12 and they do go into the architecture 13 and the aesthetics and the landscaping 14 and so forth, and we are still before 15 the Planning Board. 16 As you know and I know, the 17 Chairman is aware of this, you can't 18 make a final decision until the 19 Planning Board, which is the lead 20 agency, adopts findings, then we come 21 back to you for a final decision. 22 That's how it happened in the first 23 round and it has to happen the same way 24 with the amendments, so I again thank 25 you for your attention, and we Page 156 1 Proceedings 2 appreciate your time. 3 MR. LANDI: Any other comments 4 from the Board? 5 MR. BURKE: No, sir. 6 MR. LANDI: At this time, I am 7 going to hereby close the hearing. 8 However, the Board reserves, this Board 9 reserves the right to reopen the case 10 for any reason anytime whatsoever, 11 including after the decision is made. 12 Do I have a motion to close the 13 hearing? 14 MR. BURKE: Motion. 15 MRS. PEARSON: So moved. 16 MR. LANDI: Seconded. 17 MS. LITTLE: Second. 18 MR. LANDI: All in favor. 19 (A chorus of ayes.) 20 MR. LANDI: For the motion. Do I 21 have a motion to adjourn? 22 (A chorus of ayes.) 23

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25 Page 157 1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 2 3 STATE OF NEW YORK ) 4 ) ss. 5 COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER ) 6 I, HOWARD BRESHIN, a Court Reporter 7 and Notary Public within and for the State of New 8 York, do hereby certify: 9 That I reported the proceedings that 10 are hereinbefore set forth, and that such 11 transcript is a true and accurate record of said 12 proceedings. 13 I further certify that I am not 14 related to any of the parties to this action by 15 blood or marriage, and that I am in no way 16 interested in the outcome of this matter. 17 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto 18 set my hand. 19 20 ______21 HOWARD BRESHIN, 22 COURT REPORTER 23

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