Mamaroneck REVIEW THE
May 13, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 20 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
Draft of residential site plan laws set for hearings By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
Walk off
Peter Matt crosses home plate as the Mamaroneck dugout celebrates the Tigers’ league title win on May 10. A seventh-inning walk-off single by Emerson Genovese clinched the 6-5 Mamaroneck victory. For story, see page 14. Photo/Mike Smith
Outsider challenges status quo for Board of Education seat By SARAH VARNEY Education Reporter In Mamaroneck, as in several other Westchester communities, Board of Education candidates are chosen and endorsed by a designated selection committee. These candidates are typically chosen to replace board members after one or two three-year terms. In Mamaroneck, for the Tuesday, May 17 school board election, the 24-member Mamaroneck School Board Selection Committee has chosen Rina Beder and Sari Winter to replace James Needham and Nancy
Pierson, who were each elected in 2013. But this year, voters will also have a third option on their ballot. This situation last occurred in 2012. Attempting to thwart the efforts of the pro forma candidates is Michael Rosenbaum, a longtime Mamaroneck resident whose four sons graduated from Mamaroneck High School. He currently has a grandson at the high school, a granddaughter at Hommocks and a grandson approaching kindergarten. Before his retirement, Rosenbaum, 77, worked at the Vector Group.
He is currently a member of the Mamaroneck Arts Council and recently donated two sculptures to the village of Mamaroneck, which were recently placed at 169 Mount Pleasant Ave. Rosenbaum said he is running because he feels there is a lack of courage and leadership on the current school board. He cited the controversy over the proposal to set up an on-site medical center at the Mamaroneck Avenue School. The school health center would primarily serve the large number of impoverished students at the Mamaroneck Avenue School. Open Door Medi-
cal Center Director Lindsay Farrell first offered to set up a facility at the school at no cost to the district in 2012. The project has been mired in controversy and stalled since then. Opponents of the proposal fear the spread of disease and a decrease in their property values. According to Rosenbaum, somebody should step up and make a decision. “Take some leadership on the issue. Say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ but don’t just kick the can down the road,” he said. The decision to decrease education continued on page 5
After a brief moratorium on residential development and deliberations between town officials and an outside planning consultant, residents will soon get their chance to provide input on a new set of site plan laws. At a recent Town Council meeting, the council announced that an official draft of the town’s revised site plan laws—meant to shift the parameters of allowable development in residential areas—will go to public hearing on May 18. Mamaroneck Town Supervisor Nancy Seligson, a Democrat, said, “It’s been a good process in the sense that we learned a lot. Even when you think something is going to be fairly simple; when it comes to changing municipal law, it becomes more complicated.” The newly revised laws are a product of a three-month moratorium on townwide residential development passed in December 2015. According to Town Administrator Steve Altieri, the purpose of hitting the pause button was to steer the town’s site plan laws in a direction that fits the nature and volume of development. “There’s a new wave of larger homes being built,” he said. “There is probably now a need for a review of the larger construction projects.” The current draft of the site plan laws, according to Alt-
ieri, are meant to only hone in on those developments that the town board and residents feel are pushing the boundaries of Mamaroneck’s planning laws. A number of the draft laws’ provisions are meant to reel back what the town views as a recent acceleration of large-scale developments. Among the provisions, Altieri explained, is a new Planning Board review process that would be triggered by certain variables of a project, including plans that require demolishing more than 70 percent of a home, homes being built on vacant lots, and site grading that exceeds 45 percent of the property. Although the moratorium helped give the town board time to mull over current zoning laws, Seligson said she’s aware that there are still major issues that residents feel have been unaddressed. “This particular law does not address floor area ratio,” she said. “[Residents] would like there to be more control over teardowns and what can be built.” Seligson added that, as a part of zoning discussions going forward, the town will be looking at concerns over floor area ratio and any other loose ends. Currently, Larchmont is also in the midst of re-evaluating its zoning laws after passing a six-month villagewide moratorium on residential development in January. Similar to the town of Mamaroneck’s moratorium, Larchmont RESIDENTIAL continued on page 8
INSIDE Village recipient of art sculptures Story on page 10.