Mamaroneck REVIEW THE
April 22, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 17 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
MBYC finalizes lengthy environmental review By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
Let There be Lights! The Historic Hudson Valley is gearing up for its third annual LIGHTSCAPES show, an interactive exhibition that combines light, sound, video, art and history at the Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson. For story, see page 6. Photo courtesy hudsonvalley.org
New village of Larchmont mayor addresses road ahead The following interview was conducted with Larchmont Mayor Lorraine Walsh, a Democrat. Walsh took office on Monday, April 4. Q: Why did you decide to run for mayor? A: As trustee, I really got to see the inner workings of the village and what goes into making this place happen. I find it very intellectually stimulating and challenging. At this point I was ready to increase my involvement, my children—they’re twins—they just left for college, so I knew I was going to have a lot of extra time on my hands. I had to decide
what I was going to do with that time at this point in my life, and Anne McAndrews decided not to run for a third term. So with the support of the Democrats and the other trustees, I decided to run. Q: How do you think that your tenure as mayor might differ from Anne McAndrews’? A: I think every mayor along the way says pretty much the same thing at the beginning of their tenure: we want to maintain the level of service, watch costs, and keep Larchmont the great place it’s always been, and I’m going to be no differ-
ent than that. So in many ways it’s no different from one to the next. The differences aren’t that substantial because we all have the same goals. My focus is somewhat similar to Anne’s. I’m focused on the infrastructure and the inner workings of the village government in terms of how we do our accounting, how we do our data maintenance, for utility billing, for tax billing. We’re trying very hard to get to the point where we can automate a lot of the processes here, computerize things in the most cur-
rent way available so that we can provide quicker service to residents. We can cut down on a lot of the manual operations that happen around here so that it frees up some of our employees to focus on other things that maybe have been neglected due to the amount of time it takes when you’re doing water billing in a manual way. Q: What are your priorities as mayor? A: Probably a big focus of these two years is—we have a new mayor continued on page 5
After two previous submissions were sent back to the drawing board, an environmental review furthering a sewer project for a controversial development at the Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club, MBYC, has been completed, allowing the club’s divisive vision to lurch forward. A current proposal would upgrade deficient sewer lines on the property and revert a line to run over Otter Creek by creating an additional crossing, as opposed to a previous plan to run a line beneath the waterway. According to Lisa Rosenshein, the president and co-owner of MBYC, this sewer project is the first step toward seeing the fruition of larger and more contentious renovations that would add a number of residences and amenities to the property on 555 S. Barry Ave. “The sewer line replacement is a sub-category to the renovations in front of the Planning Board,” she said. “Once that is determined, they can finish up and approve the rest of the project.” The impetus for the replacement project, according to Allison Stabille—a resident of the neighboring community in Shore Acres and member of advocacy group, Shore Acres Property Owners Association, SAPOA—dates back to a raw sewage leak emanating from a faulty line near Otter Creek on
the MBYC grounds in 2013. During that period, environmental advocacy group Save the Sound detected fecal coliform levels more than 300 times higher than the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s water quality threshold. As a result of the break and extensive lobbying from SAPOA, MBYC will now be required to renovate sewers on the property before adding additional residences and amenities. Since the vision for expanding the club’s footprint was first introduced in 2004, MBYC has continued to battle with residents over plans to expand the club’s scope. As of last year, the Zoning Board of Appeals had already rejected 28 separate appeals from residents who insisted that the club is not zoning compliant, and has been required to fend off lawsuits challenging the club’s impact on the environment. While current zoning laws prohibit the operation of commercial facilities along Mamaroneck’s waterfront, MBYC has continued to lobby for the addition of a number of seasonal residences, a brand-new recreational facility, and a new and improved yacht club; moves which some residents say fly in the face of current zoning laws. “[The beach club] finds a little loophole and they drive a Mack truck through it,” said Daniel Natchez, village resident and MBYC continued on page 13
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