August 4, 2017

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Mamaroneck REVIEW THE

August 4, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 31 | www.mamaroneckreview.com

Sandbox Theatre gets approval for new location By JAMES PERO Staff Writer

A new perspective Twenty-one SUNY Purchase College students meet with the Dalai Lama as part of their study abroad trip in India. For story, see page 7. Photo courtesy Carly Sorenson

Courts uphold non-member events at Hampshire By JAMES PERO Staff Writer A state appellate court upheld a decision to allow non-member events at Hampshire Country Club, punctuating years of litigation involving the club, a homeowners’ coalition and the village of Mamaroneck zoning board, dating back to 2014.

The decision by a state court will reaffirm a previous ruling made in 2015 when a judge dismissed a lawsuit from the Mamaroneck Coastal Environment Coalition alleging that the zoning board allowed Hampshire to step outside the boundaries of the local zoning code through issuing a special permit to host events for

non-club members. Non-member events that the club has hosted in the past include parties, fundraisers and bar mitzvahs. From the outset, the Mamaroneck Coastal Environment Coalition has alleged that the hosting of such events would only contribute to exacerbated noise

and traffic conditions in the surrounding neighborhood of Orienta Point, an affluent hamlet abutting the Long Island Sound. “It’s a shame but it’s not a surprise,” said Celia Felsher, a member of the coalition. “We know that the courts give deference to administrative bodies.” HAMPSHIRE continued on page 9

After scrutiny from residents and a slew of violations forced the Westchester Sandbox Theatre to abandon its East Boston Post Road outpost, the embattled business will now set up shop elsewhere in the village of Mamaroneck after receiving Planning Board approval. According to an application being reviewed by the Planning Board, the theater aims to conduct dance and music lessons out of a location at 300 Waverly Ave., and will shed a performance aspect of its operation that contributed to its eventual shutdown. Performances featuring the theater’s students, the application states, will be held at a separate location in White Plains. According to village Trustee Keith Waitt, a Democrat who also sits on the village Industrial Area Advisory Committee, the village will eye the surrounding area—dubbed the “Maker Zone”—of Sandbox’s new home as a target for similar businesses. “The word is starting to get around that we’re taking this seriously as a new area for business,” he said. “As most people know, Sandbox didn’t get reapproved for their site because they were in an area that wasn’t best suited for them. But after working with the village we found a better [location].”

In February of this year, the Sandbox Theatre—which educates children in the performing arts—emerged at the epicenter of a residential opposition movement after being cited by the Building Department for New York state fire violations and stepping outside of the village zoning code which forbids theaters in C-1 districts. Among the violations were failing to install a sprinkler system in the theater portion of the business’ building. Despite briefly mulling a proposal to alter all C-1 zoning districts to include theaters as an allowable use, the Board of Trustees dropped the idea and Sandbox was forced to cease its operations. Controversy over Sandbox and another Mamaroneck business, Ralph’s Italian Ices & Ice Cream, has helped spur increased scrutiny of the village Building Department’s protocol and procedures as well as a revamp to local zoning code. The village is currently undergoing a request for proposals seeking a consultant to help evaluate the department’s protocol. Members of the IAC, who are tasked with envisioning the Maker Zone as a future incubator for new business, are currently seeking a zoning overlay that would allow a large new swath of commercial ventures— SANDBOX continued on page 11


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August 4, 2017 by The Mamaroneck Review - Issuu