Community Board 2 last night passed a resolution addressing the "hardship" applications before the Landmarks Preservation Commission for a revised plan by St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers and the Rudin family to redevelop the hospital's properties on both sides of Seventh Avenue in Greenwich Village.

The commission held a hearing on the initial proposal recently and indicated it had many problems with it such as the proposed demolition of the nautically-styled Edward and Theresa O'Toole Medical Services Building on the west side of the avenue and other buildings.

The revised plan "significantly" reduced the bulk and scale of its expansion plans and preserves its Nurses, Raskob, Smith, and Spellman buildings that are east of Seventh Avenue in the Greenwich Village Historic District.

The original proposal called for a large residential building on the Seventh Avenue east blockfront between 11th and 12th Streets and many townhouse-size buildings on the side-streets.

The revised plan now intends to re-use several of the existing large buildings on both 11th and 12th Street and reduced the number of townhouses dramatically and the renovation includes the removal of through-wall air-conditioners in the buildings proposed to be preserved.

The landmarks commission held a hearing earlier this month on the hardship applications and will hold another one next month.

Considerable discussion at last night's meeting centered on whether the resolution should be amended to state that the board wants the hospital to stay "in the neighborhood," but the "friendly amendment" was eventually withdrawn after Brad Hoylman, the board's chair, said that it might be premature as the board wants to hospital and the commission to further explore the possibility of "alternative" sites.

The resolution and two lengthy appendices detail various suggestions the board has about details of the hospital's revised plans and a friendly amendment to the resolution was accepted to a clause stating that the board was "on record stating that the O'Toole building has historical significance, an assessment supported by the LPC's comments" that changed the wording slightly to "has not wavered in its commitment" to the building's historical significance.

The board's position is that the height of the proposed residential tower on Seventh Avenue "should be further reduced" and its "set back penthouses and mechanicals seem bulky and inappropriate." "The window openings," it continued, "are too large for a Village apartment building" and "the balconies and cantilevered elements are out of place in the district" and "it is important to reduce the presence of retail on the side streets."

With regard to the proposed annex on 11th Street to the Seventh Avenue tower the board questioned "having balconies as such a prominent feature" as "they are unprecedented, and are a distracting element. We worry that they will be used for storage, which is unacceptable."

It said that the proposed new hospital tower, shown at the left, on the O'Toole site is "still too tall" and that "its entry facade on Seventh Avenue is out of scale" and it questioned "the pros and cons of the tower's ellipse" plan.

The board, which stated that it "supports the modernization of the St. Vincent's facility and recognizes the hospital's immense contributions to our local community," said it is pleased that, "thirty years later, St. Vincent's is committed to creating the open public space promised when" they built two new buildings in 1979.

Its documents raised questions about "how can the LPC ensure that a precedent will not be set that would allow other non-profit institutions in our neighborhoods to demolish historic structures in order to fulfill their mission."