Idoni, who was part of a panel discussion at yesterday's (Feb. 8) meeting of the Building Owners and Managers Association, says several factors caused furniture retailer IKEA to abandon a plan to build a 300,000 sf store in the Fifth Avenue section of the city. He charges that the prospect of several years of delays to have ramps built on Exit 17 of I-95 to address traffic concerns, as well as staunch and vocal opposition from neighboring suburban communities such as Larchmont and Mamaroneck, killed the IKEA venture.

"What I experienced over the last four or five months in New Rochelle was opposition to a project, which in my mind possibly could have worked if given the time to do it... but found resistance from neighboring communities because of what they called 'suburban sprawl,'" he notes.

He adds that a city must have a diversity of businesses and housing to be vibrant and IKEA could have been a part of the city's ongoing revitalization. "When a city like New Rochelle, White Plains or Yonkers, tries to do something (to solve an urban issue) sometimes it finds it is getting interference from an abutting community who is concerned about suburban sprawl," he notes.

"We need to have regional planning in Westchester," Mayor Idoni contends. "We need to have regional planning in a sense that we recognize that we have urban problems within our suburban county. Regional planning does not just mean stopping projects from happening at your doorstep. It means encouraging projects to happen with a sensitivity to your next door neighbor's needs."

While Westchester County has issued countywide planning recommendations, municipal planning and zoning boards are not compelled to follow the regional plan. Idoni was part of a panel discussion held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains that also featured White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino and Edward Sheeran, special Assistant to Yonkers Mayor John Spencer.

Instant Insights /

New Rochelle Mayor Tells BOMA Delays Killed IKEA Project

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