Mamaroneck REVIEW THE
December 8, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 49 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
Village eyes conditional building moratoriums By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
IT’S OFFICIAL New Mayor Tom Murphy, a Democrat, is sworn in at the village of Mamaroneck annual organizational meeting on Dec. 4. For story, see page 3. Photo/James Pero
Dems say county budget leaves $100M in expense gap By JAMES PERO Staff Writer Ahead of a looming budget deadline, Westchester’s Democratic lawmakers are warning of monumental gaps in a 2018 tentative budget that could total more than $100 million. According to statements this
week, among the top concerns are $30 million in budgeted revenue to privatize the county’s airport as well as $40 million in retroactive raises contingent on pending contract negotiations between the county and the Civil Service Employees Association, CSEA, Westchester’s biggest labor union.
Without those items budgeted for, county Legislator Catherine Parker, a Rye Democrat, said that the county may be in rough financial shape for its upcoming budget, and as a result, portend large tax increases. “The Astorino administration’s final budget would leave us with a roughly 18 percent tax increase
due to years of a fiscal shell game,” Parker said in a statement. “I’m not going to raise your taxes 18 percent, but I want you to understand what I have been saying for years—there was no real way to keep the tax levy flat over eight years, and still provide BUDGET continued on page 5
As a part of an ongoing process to revamp the village of Mamaroneck’s land use laws and procedures, the Board of Trustees will direct hired consultants to vet a slew of new initiatives, including new regulations on room-sharing services and conditional moratoriums. According to a memo from Village Attorney Robert Spolzino to the Board of Trustees dated Nov. 20, as a part of a comprehensive plan update and concurrent land use policy revamp, the village has requested a number of topics be broached, including automatic moratoriums on applications that may potentially butt up against pending land use laws. Trustee Leon Potok, a Democrat, said that while no change in laws is guaranteed to come from the consultant’s research, it will help give the board a better understanding of what to change, if anything. “The board needs to have a conversation to understand what the current law is and what is accepted,” Potok said. “We may decide we don’t want to change anything.” As for regulating room-sharing services such as AirBnB, a platform that allows users to rent out houses and/or rooms to travelers for both short and long-term purposes, Potok said that new laws
might seek to understand what problems could arise from them, if anything. “It could be a big problem,” he said. “It could be a medium-size problem. We just don’t know until we look.” The village’s update of its comprehensive plan—undertaken by the consulting firm NV5— will seek to refresh a document last updated in 2012 in an effort to ensure best practices for environmental sustainability and including factoring in new development guidelines iterated in a recent update to the village’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, LWRP. The village of Mamaroneck’s original comprehensive plan was adopted in 1986. Priorities listed in the most recent draft of the comprehensive plan update include retaining the villages historical character; expanding a retail base; developing workforce; and preserving the character of the village’s neighborhoods in addition to preserving wetlands and water quality of the Long Island Sound. While such reviews are being undertaken, Matrix Consulting Group remains in the midst of evaluating the village Building Department and its procedures, spurred by controversies related to the department’s mishandling of several local businesses. MORATORIUMS continued on page 9