The White Plains Common Council opened a concurrent public hearing Jan. 6 on a petition to rezone the former Galleria property and on the project's draft environmental impact statement.

The hearing matters because the rezoning would create a new “TD‑2” transit development district and enable a developer proposal the project team described as a roughly $2.5 billion, mixed‑use redevelopment that could include about 3,200 residential units, roughly 3,400 public parking spaces and significant retail and office space. The council and city staff said the hearing will remain open and written comments will be accepted before the council closes the record and the applicant prepares a final EIS.

Planning Commissioner Christopher Gomez told the council that the rezoning process began after the applicant filed a petition in October 2023 and that the council previously issued a positive declaration under the state environmental review process, requiring a full environmental impact statement. Gomez described the hearing as a concurrent SEQRA (referred to in the record as “SECRA”) public review and a zoning‑ordinance public hearing under section 12 of the city code; both must be concluded before the council can vote on rezoning.

Developer representative Mark Weingarten and the project team presented the DEIS summary and the conceptual development plan. Weingarten said the petitioner is studying options that would raze the existing mall, remediate contamination, and construct a multi‑block, transit‑oriented neighborhood with multiple towers, promenades and plazas. The DEIS as presented estimates large fiscal benefits over time and, during the pilot period described by the applicant, estimated “about $24,000,000 a year” in pilot payments to local taxing jurisdictions.

City and project consultants said the DEIS addresses land use, visual impacts, cultural resources, stormwater, transportation, air quality, noise, and other required topics. The traffic chapter projects an increase in weekday morning and evening peak trips and fewer Saturday peak trips compared with the mall at its prior level of retail activity; consultants said some nearby signal retiming could mitigate identified traffic impacts at a handful of intersections.

Several residents and organizational representatives spoke during the public comment period. Speakers who expressed support cited economic development, job creation and downtown activation; speakers who expressed concerns questioned traffic and parking projections, construction phasing and community impacts, and urged stronger commitments on deeper affordability and protections for nearby neighborhoods.

Gomez and staff outlined the next steps: the hearing record will remain open, a written comment period will follow the close of the hearing, the applicant must prepare a final environmental impact statement responding to all comments, and only after a finding statement can the council legally vote on the rezoning. If the rezoning is adopted, any future development will still require detailed site‑plan review and council approval to confirm conformance with the conceptual plan.

The council adjourned the public hearing to Feb. 3, 2025 and said additional sessions will be scheduled so interested residents can present further comments.