Directives, Conditions Attached to White Plains Temple Project
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The Hindu Temple of Tri-State continues to receive directives and recommendations from city officials and neighbors to quell concerns while planning for a second floor.
Last month, the Common Council got its date face-to-face with the project attorney and temple leadership during a special public meeting. It remains to be seen whether the discussion and conditions of approval will lead to satisfactory results.
Eyes will be on whether construction will wrap up in the expected 12 to 18 months.
“People’s patience is worn thin,” said Mayor Thomas Roach during that recent meeting. “Construction is not a pleasant experience, so the faster it can be completed, presuming we approve it, is better for everybody.”
The building’s first floor has been mostly completed and worship has been happening there since 2023. But construction reportedly commenced back in 2016 or 2017.
The Planning Board already offered its blessings for the project. And the council considered approving the site plan amendment to move the expansion project ahead with a list of conditions, though it’s likely to be under ongoing scrutiny as work gets underway.
Roach recommended the temple at 390 North St. make a point of contact available for construction at that last council meeting on Dec. 17. Jagdish Mitter, board president, noted how work would happen 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and not spill into the weekend.
The project has drawn concern in recent months because of other ongoing concerns, not new ones forecasted because of the new floor that had been approved in plans back in 2014 and later removed the subsequent year because of lack of funding.
Tensions heightened when the second floor was reintroduced last year, but without reportedly notifying the Old Oak Ridge neighbors on and around Colonial Road. Issues have touched on noisy outdoor events, excessive stormwater and lack of backyard screening.
But meetings with neighbors have led to some promises from the temple.
“We’ve agreed to plant 11 (12-14 foot) Arbor Vitae in that area to help with additional screening,” said Attorney Bill Null. “The screening that we had initially proposed was planted but we’re enhancing it.”
Councilmembers urged them to replace any plants that die or wither away.
“We have in recent years, this Common Council, spoken with other developers of projects and made it clear that the maintenance of a buffer area is every bit as important and more so than the original structure of the buffer,” said President Victoria Presser. “It ceases being a buffer if it falls to pieces.”
The buffer may not be viewed as satisfactory, however.
Neighbors gone before the Common Council early last month to ask that a number of conditions be attached to any approval of the plans. Amongst them was a 16-foot-high fence and Evergreen trees in the rear of the property.
Another suggestion was that lighting be reduced. Temple leadership said the parking lot lights are for security purposes and would shut off by 9:30 p.m., but that hadn’t been happening, according to neighbors at the time.
Noise, including booming drums, was another issue brought to the attention of the council.
While outdoor events are expected to be less prevalent once the second floor is added, Presser urged the temple to use them as “learning opportunity.” In other words, she wanted more to be shared about what they mean in advance of them happening.
“Something that is unfamiliar sounds like noise. Something that is familiar suddenly doesn’t sound like noise,” she said.
An inspection report has been drawn up for the new stormwater infrastructure, too. The property is not to blame for all the water, Null contended.
“It is unfortunate that people have some, I don’t want to call it flooding, but some overburdening of their property with water, but it’s not indicated to be from this property,” he said.
“And as you know with increased storms, a lot of people have had burdening of their property from more stormwater than is typical.”
There’s a long list of conditions attached to the Jan. 6 resolution, demonstrating some follow-through on what’s been discussed amongst the parties involved. That included the 11 Arbor Vitae and stormwater infrastructure inspection.
Other conditions included the ask that landscaping be maintained and light illumination be at the “minimum necessary” for security.
Andy Milone has been a freelance reporter covering local government for various New Jersey and New York news outlets since May 2024. The Chatham, New Jersey native and Gettysburg College graduate previously worked as a full-time reporter for The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in Iowa, Pine Barrens Tribune in New Jersey and The Shippensburg News-Chronicle in Pennsylvania. He began working as a professional journalist in 2018. You can reach him at 201-406-7222 (call/text) or by emailing andymilone@protonmail.com.
