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Politics & Government

Hospital's Parking Garage Gets Final OK

Plus: Review continues on Arroway Chevy dealer expansion.

parking garage won final approval Tuesday from the Mount Kisco planning board.

In a brief, almost anticlimactic conclusion—with hospital officials saying virtually nothing and village planners not much more—the board approved the garage’s lighting plans, 5-0, the final regulatory stop before shovels can go into the springtime ground. Site plan approved had already been granted.

The two-story parking structure, first of its kind in Mount Kisco, will rise in a former parking lot immediately south of the hospital, off St. Marks Place. Designed for 496 parking spaces, it will provide 464 of them for the hospital and the other 32 for neighboring businesses.

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Board Chairman Anthony Cosentino closed a public hearing, carried over from January, on the garage’s LED illumination. Board member Douglas Hertz, who had worked with Vice Chairman Anthony Sturniolo on the lighting issue, acknowledged the delay in reaching a final accord.

“There was a reason this was put off to this period of time,” he said without further elaboration. “While there is no perfect solution,” Hertz said, “I think the solution we came up with . . . was really the best [one].”

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The pursuit of an acceptable lighting scheme had to balance the parking structure’s need for nighttime illumination with concerns for the comfort of nearby residents. “This is a difficult and unusual situation,” Hertz said. “There were no easy answers.”   

Cosentino saluted the work of Sturniolo and Hertz, saying, “It’s not going to look like an airport, with a 747 about to land. I think it’s going to look good.”

To the hospital’s attorney, P. Daniel Hollis, Cosentino said, “We’ve given you the red carpet.”

Because the construction will displace existing spots, the hospital is curently seeking approval from New Castle's Town Board , where it has an ambulatory care facility. The board has set an April 10 public hearing for the request and the additional request is for 18 months. Chappaqua Crossing already has overflow parking for the hospital - employees are transported to Mount Kisco by shuttle from there - and those spots will all be eliminated once the garage is built.

 

When Stripes Are in Fashion

Arroway Chevrolet/Cadillac was told Tuesday that it looks good in stripes, and it must wear them—or else.

The stripes are meant to delineate the auto dealership’s unloading area, and Planning Board Chairman Joseph Cosentino made clear Tuesday that he wants them included in the site plan application his panel is now reviewing.

Cosentino wants assurance that arriving auto-carriers will always find a place on Arroway property to discharge their cargo and not be forced to improvise an unloading spot on, say, busy Route 117. He told Arroway architect Scott Blakely that he wanted the stripes incorporated into the site plan, making it subject to revocation if the striping does not materialize on the dealer’s lot.

Blakely said he would take up the issue with his client. “Do what you have to do,” Cosentino said, adding, “and get back to us.”

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