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Planning board delays 237 Martin Avenue subdivision after ownership description error
Summary
The White Plains Planning Board on April 15 declined to schedule a public hearing for a proposed two‑lot subdivision at 237 Martin Avenue after counsel told the board the application mischaracterized parcel ownership and included property the applicant does not own.
The White Plains Planning Board on April 15 declined to schedule a public hearing on a proposed two‑lot subdivision at 237 Martin Avenue after city legal counsel said the application as filed misdescribed the parcels and the ownership interests involved.
Board members were told the application described a parcel as including the City Center parking garage and associated structures, but the garage is owned by the White Plains Urban Renewal Agency and the applicant does not hold legal title. Peter Bassano, who said he was appearing for Kite Realty and on behalf of the Westchester IDA, said he would return to the applicant’s counsel to correct the submission.
The misdescription prompted Arthur Gutekunst, the board’s legal counsel, to say the application does not accurately describe “what you want to do or what you can do and the ownerships,” and the board could not properly schedule the public hearing. The board directed the applicant to amend the annex and parcel descriptions and continued the item to the next regular meeting, May 20.
Why it matters: the hearing was intended to publicly vet a subdivision that would formalize property lines around existing commercial and residential uses in the City Center area. Correct parcel descriptions and chain‑of‑title are legal prerequisites to any public hearing and to later approvals.
Next steps: the applicant’s counsel must revise the subdivision annex to reflect the correct lots and ownership (counsel was told the garage parcel is in the Urban Renewal Agency’s ownership and that the applicant’s filing appears to claim only air rights on a portion of the lot). Once corrected, the board can schedule the public hearing at a future meeting.
No formal vote was taken on the merits of the subdivision; the board’s action was procedural (to defer scheduling the hearing until the application documents are corrected).
