Parking a Growing Concern in Proposed CareMount Expansion
By Ed Perratore
What constitutes a medical office? That’s a question that sent the Mount Kisco Planning Board scrambling to the zoning code last week.
The village is home to CareMount Medical, the largest independent multi-specialty medical group in New York State, along with Northern Westchester Hospital and numerous other medical and dental offices. But apparently nowhere in the village code is there a formal definition of a medical office.
The issue arose at the Planning Board’s Apr. 9 meeting when Jim Diamond, CEO of Diamond Properties, said that CareMount would like to include more than 15,000 square feet of health care services to 100 S. Bedford Rd. CareMount would also like to relocate executive offices, some IT functions and other offices from Chappaqua Crossing into a 23,286-square-foot space at 100 S. Bedford Rd. The space was previously occupied by Morgan Stanley.
Adjacent buildings on the three-building campus, at 90 and 110 S. Bedford Rd., are devoted entirely to medical use. But if the offices proposed for the 100 building are classified as medical offices those will require more parking than is available because of the higher volume caused by patients’ visits.
Of the more than 23,000 square feet of space, CareMount, has proposed to designate 15,536 square feet for medical purposes. A 3,620-square-foot retinal specialty office is proposed for the first floor and an 11,916-square-foot urology and general surgery office would be on the second floor.
The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has previously limited medical office use in that building to 16,000 square feet.
Diamond argued that CareMount’s executive offices are professional offices and are separate from where patients would be seen by healthcare providers. As a result, he contended that the 7,750 square feet should count in the amended site plan as professional offices, which require much less parking. He said no doctors, nurses or related medical personnel would be based there.
But Board Chairman Doug Hertz said there are concerns related to parking. He said that the site is “perilously close” to having too many vehicles.
“Our concern really has to do with parking counts,” Hertz said. “What we’re trying to prevent is sort of a ‘medical creep,’ if you will, uses that are sort of quasi-medical but have the same density of parking requirement that a medical office would have.”
Much of last week’s discussion centered on which personnel would work in the 7,750-square-foot area that the applicant considers professional office space.
Building Inspector Peter J. Miley said he would consult the ZBA to clearly determine the difference between professional and medical offices.
Village Attorney Whitney Singleton encouraged a new resolution pinning down specific uses of all spaces within the building.
Chabad of Bedford approved
Also last week, the Planning Board approved a resolution by Chabad of Bedford to temporarily move its Hebrew school into the same building at 100 S. Bedford Rd. for three years.
While a few small details must still be resolved, Chabad will move into a 5,278-square-foot space while it rebuilds its headquarters at 133 Railroad Ave. in Bedford Hills. That building was damaged in an electrical fire on Feb. 5.
Examiner Media – Keeping you informed with professionally-reported local news, features, and sports coverage.