Sunnyview seeks expanded parking Hospital asks City Council to approve zoning change for land it wants to buy
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer First published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
SCHENECTADY -- Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital is appealing to the City Council to allow the facility to expand its parking lot after the Planning Commission rejected the proposal. Hospital representatives attended Monday night's City Council meeting and asked to be allowed to acquire a house and its adjoining property at 1280 Belmont Ave. to create 20 parking spaces. The parcel borders the hospital's parking lot. The purchase would require the city to change the parcel's zoning from single-family to institutional.
The Planning Commission recently rejected the hospital's request, saying Sunnyview wasn't taking into account the severity of the facility's parking shortage. The Planning Commission gives recommendations on zoning changes, but City Council approves or denies them. John Hogan, Sunnyview's director of facilities, said Sunnyview and neighboring Ellis Hospital have conducted studies on parking and believe a shared parking garage in the area will be needed in five to 10 years. He said there is no money to build such a project right now but Sunnyview feels it must take advantage when opportunities arise to expand its footprint. Hogan also said the absentee landlord of 1280 Belmont Ave. recently approached Sunnyview about the facility purchasing the property. City Council member Barbara Blanchard asked if Sunnyview has looked at providing off-site parking or incentives for carpooling. Hogan said the shuttling involved in off-site parking would be expensive, and a previous effort to get employees to carpool didn't work. City Council member Gary McCarthy also expressed concern that purchasing parcels piecemeal will not solve the facility's long-term parking problems. The City Council agreed to watch videotape of the Planning Commission's meeting before making a decision on the zoning change.
No more Band-Aid parking solutions for Sch’dy hospitals
Parking in the middle-class residential neighborhoods around Schenectady’s Ellis and Sunnyview Rehabilitation hospitals has become more of a challenge over the years, as the facilities have not only grown but more families drive more cars than they once did. The critical mass is rapidly approaching, but the solution to the problem is not as Sunnyview prescribes. That would be buying up the adjacent houses along Belmont Avenue one by one, knocking them down and paving them over to accommodate more cars. According to a story in yesterday’s Gazette, the hospital has acquired some 470 spaces in this fashion. But aesthetically, it hasn’t exactly done wonders for the neighborhood. Fortunately, the hospital’s plan to buy and demolish 1280 Belmont Ave. has run into some resistance from the city planning commission, but now the hospital is looking for sympathy among city council members. The council should tell the hospital to go away — and come back with a real plan. Between its growth and the expansion anticipated at Ellis as it incorporates the Bellevue and St. Clare’s operations, a larger-scale solution is necessary. That means either a new parking garage, expansion of the existing Ellis garage or a shuttle program (involving, perhaps, the underused Gerling Street shopping center or Alco site?). Yes, any of these solutions will cost a lot of money, but that’s the price of the hospitals’ success. It will hurt the city more if properties keep getting taken off the tax rolls and if the values of the remaining homes in the neighborhood are allowed to slide. And that’s what will happen if a real solution isn’t found soon.
Here’s a win-win solution to Sunnyview’s search for more staff parking. All the blacktop they need is at the Sheridan Plaza! Located at the corner of Rosa Road and Gerling Street, it’s less than a five-minute walk. What will Sunnyview officials gain? There’s plenty of parking, with the added benefit of staff possibly using their five-minute stroll to help the psyche gear up for the day or clear the mind after work. Employees will also have time-saving access to a dry cleaner, Capo de Pizza, a liquor store, a Laundromat, Chinese takeout and a CVS. What will area residents gain? An extension of Sunnyview Hospital as an anchor for their neighborhood. Undoubtedly, the plaza’s merchants will welcome this solution as well. All those Sunnyview employees may provide a shot in the arm source of revenue, too. ELIZABETH A. UZIG Glenville
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