Trustees Examine Village Code for Home Generators
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In response to residents’ complaints about a highly restrictive code for the installation of home generators in Scarsdale, the Scarsdale Trustees Law Committee met on the evening of January 18, 2012 to review the code and get input on revising it. The current code requires that the generator’s noise level cannot exceed 55 decibels at the nearest property line, that the generator be placed in the backyard and be positioned 20 feet from the property line.
John Goodwin from the Village Manager’s Office did some research on the issue and reported that since 2006, 151 residents have applied for permits to install home generators and 113 were approved. Variances were requested by 18 residents, with most asking for permission to place the generator in the side yard rather than the backyard as the code currently requires. Only 63 Certificates of Occupancy have been granted to date as some have not followed through with the building department or the installation has not been completed.
Goodwin also surveyed neighboring towns and found that most require the maximum sound level to be 70-75 decibels, rather than 55 decibels. Though Scarsdale has the same sound requirement for air conditioning units as generators, there are no requirements about the placement of air conditioning units.
In discussion at the meeting, Mayor Flisser noted that since she has been Mayor there have been three big storms, with power outages lasting 4 days, despite pressure applied to Con Edison to restore power more quickly. She noted that power is essential to relieve flooding in some resident’s basements during these storm periods.
Two local contractors were in the audience and provided information about the generators that are available on the market. Though a quiet generator that only emits 55 decibels is available, it is twice as expensive as louder models. The cost for the quiet unit was quoted at $26,000 vs. the louder units at $12,000.
Trustee Richard Toder noted that these generators are only used for a very limited time during emergency situations, and noise is not an overriding factor. He suggested that provisions for noise, setbacks and location be re-examined.
Chairing the meeting Trustee Brodsky commented that if the code for legally installing a generator is restrictive, and the price of the legal unit is prohibitive, it will increase the chance that residents will purchase temporary generators and hook them up themselves. This can be dangerous and therefore she favored modifying the code to make it feasible for more residents to install a legal generator.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the trustees asked the staff to make a recommendation to address the noise, location and setback requirements in order to draft code that provides more flexibility and would allow residents to install emergency generators without requiring a variance.
State Supreme Court Reverses Dromore Road Ruling, Clearing the Way for Multi-Family Housing
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Edgemont Residents were surprised by a January 12, 2012 email they received from Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner concerning Dromore Road. Feiner’s email said, “In a court decision dated January 10, 2012, Judge Gerald Loehr has reversed the Town Zoning Board of Appeal’s determination that the 2.26 acre property at One Dromore Road in Edgemont is in the Town’s R-20 Single Family Residential District and has concluded that the property is in the CA-1 Multi-Family District and can be improved with multi-family dwellings. In addition, the decision may have implications for the Greenburgh Nature Center and Edgemont community. The Board will discuss a possible appeal.”
The problematic situation at Dromore Road started back on May 24, 2006 when S & R Development Estates LLC (S & R) purchased the property known as 1 Dromore Road (also known as 62 Dromore Road) in Edgemont for $1.4 million. The property is approximately 2.25 acres and is located right off Central Avenue between the Greenburgh Nature Center and the Edgemont High School campus. S & R purchased the property, which had a one family home on it at the time, with the intent of developing the land and building a four-story multi-family 37 unit apartment complex with approximately 35 bedrooms per acre . The developers believed that the parcel of land was located in a multi-family CA-1 zone and at the time, the zoning maps did show the land to be in the multi-family zone. However, in early 2007, the Town informed S&R that there had been an error on the zoning map (dating back to the late 1990s) and the land was actually located in an R-20 single-family zone.
Of course, this mistake changed everything for the developer; S & R argued that their decision to purchase the property was based on the belief 
that they could build multi-family units on the site. In preparation, they had already demolished the existing home on the property in December 2006. S & R understandably was shocked at this new information and the change in zoning had a tremendous impact on the value of the property. In September, 2005 S & R had the property appraised at a value of $10,200,000. The same size parcel of land in a single-family zone would be worth substantially less. In March 2011, S & R won a Tax Certiorari Settlement reducing the assessed value of the parcel from $37,050 to $13,000 in 2010 (the revised assessment for 2008 and 2009 was $18,525) and S & R received a $61,000 tax refund.
The town corrected the zoning map to show that the property was situated in R-20, with zoning for single-family residences on minimum half-acre lots. After much legal back and forth with the Town, S & R lost its appeal to the Town of Greenburgh Zoning Board of Appeals who, in late 2007, upheld the decision of the Town's Department of Community Planning and Conservation designating the property for single family residences. Last week, the State Supreme Court disagreed and upheld the 2006 zoning map, declaring that the property is in Zone CA-1. The developer can now submit his plans to develop the parcel of land and go forward with his original plans unless the Town appeals the recent court ruling. Supervisor Paul Feiner has said that the matter will be discussed with the Town Attorney next week.
Many Edgemont residents worry that if multi-family dwellings are built, it will bring even more students into the school district. Already facing the 2% state mandated tax cap, these extra students will put additional budgetary pressure on the district. Others in the neighborhood are concerned about the loss of open green space in an area that is already over-developed. Understandably the Greenburgh Nature Center is also not happy with the ruling. Last, Dromore Road itself is quite narrow and not ideal for the added traffic that the development will bring to it.
In 2006, the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) also recommended trying to preserve this parcel of land as open space. In a January 2007 memo from the chairperson of the CAC, Theresa Mae Tori said, "While small, this parcel is a link between two larger open spaces; the Nature Center and the Edgemont High School Campus. When the Town established its Open Space Plan, the importance to local fauna of connecting open space was recognized as an element in identifying land to be acquired."
Learn more, by reading Judge Loehr’s decision here:
Oppenheimer to Retire from State Senate, Paving the Way for a Possible November Showdown between Bob Cohen and George Latimer
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Veteran State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer has announced that she will not run for re-election for the New York State Senate seat she has held for 28 years. Oppenheimer, 77 years old, disclosed that she was facing major shoulder replacement surgery in 2012 which would preclude giving her undivided attention to her senate duties and a likely brutal re-run against her 2010 opponent, Bob Cohen.
Opportunities for move-ups in elective offices in Westchester have been rare. Aside from Oppenheimer’s 28 year tenure in the State Senate, Congresswoman Nita Lowey is running for re-election to her seat, held since she first won in 1988 defeating two-term incumbent Joseph DioGuardi (the 2010 special election opponent to US Senator Kirstin Gillibrand). The political rumor mill opines that Lowey wants to keep the seat to preserve it during redistricting -- then make way for New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson in due course. Scarsdale Assemblywoman Amy Paulin has stated that she was running for re-election to her assembly seat -- and speculation swirls that Paulin has her eye on running for County Executive against Rob Astorino in 2013.
The likely Democratic candidate for the Oppenheimer seat is Rye State Assemblyman George Latimer, who has held the
The major caveat, however, is redistricting. The State Legislature is involved in the redistricting process that occurs every 10 years -- and the Republicans are already trying to add a 63rd senate seat. Democrats are crying foul and Governor Andrew Cuomo has previously promised to veto lines drawn in a partisan manner. But time is running out for any rational, independent redistricting process to take place. Even prior to Oppenheimer’s announcement, the State Senate Republicans have been rumored to be trying to boost Cohen’s chances for the seat by removing Democratic leaning Scarsdale and substituting the more Republican Eastchester and Tuckahoe. Other speculation includes removing Ossining and replacing it with Pound Ridge. If some or all of those shifts occur, the seat would be easier for Cohen to win. Latimer is likely the Democrats’ best hope to retain the seat given his bipartisan reach.
SBNC Announces Election Results: Here Are the Winners
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There was a strong turnout for the Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee election, held on Tuesday, January 17th. A total of 528 votes were cast, up from 381 votes in 2011. Fox Meadow had the highest number of voters, with 138 ballots cast. Greenacres had the fewest ballots cast with 76 voters. Heathcote had 108 voters, Quaker Ridge had 105 and Edgewood had 101 ballots cast.
The following candidates were chosen to join the Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee:
- Edgewood: Kathryn Conlon and Mary Beth Evans
- Fox Meadow: Diane Baylor and Mary Lou D’Silva
- Greenacres: Dana Matsushita and Barry Meiselman
- Heathcote: Amy Cohen Bauman and Peggy DaSilva
- Quaker Ridge: Debbie Hochberg and Tracy Nathanson
In addition, all six proposed amendments to the SBNC governing document were approved by voters. Details on these amendments can be found at: http://scarsdalesbnc.com/press/
This year’s ten new SBNC members will join twenty others already on the committee serving staggered three-year terms. The first committee meeting will be held on Sunday, January 22, 2012, and by the end of March the committee will nominate two candidates for the Scarsdale Board of Education. Lewis Leone and Mary Beth Gose are completing their first terms on the Board of Education and are eligible for re-nomination. The SBNC Board of Education candidates, along with any other candidates who may choose to run, will be up for public election along with the School Budget on May 15.
Photo Above: SBNC Procedure Committee handcounting the votes. Photo credit: Nan Berke
New Rochelle Residents Express Concern about Development at the Golden Horseshoe at Scarsdale BOT Meeting
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Mayor Miriam Flisser opened the January 10th Scarsdale Village Board of Trustees meeting with updates on the Village revaluation and stormwater management and then invited public comment from two New Rochelle residents who are concerned about development plans for the Golden Horseshoe,
Flisser reported that the Village is reviewing proposals from two companies to conduct the Village-wide revaluation. Both proposals are now under consideration and one or both firms may meet with Village staff to discuss their proposals. In addition, proposals from two software companies are now being considered to create a software bridge to allow the Village to accept property valuation data from an offsite system and integrate this data into Scarsdale’s system.
Flisser also reported that Village Manager Al Gatta has been appointed to the Westchester County Stormwater Advisory Board which was created by the Westchester County Board of Legislators and approved by the County Executive in February, 2011. The Stormwater Advisory Board advises the County Commissioners of Planning, Public Works, Transportation, County Executive and the County Board of Legislators on the establishment of a stormwater management plan for the lower Westchester Long Island Sound Watershed Basin. This plan will lead to County funding for watershed projects in the 11 member municipalities.
In the public comments portion of the meeting, Neil Tucker of 8 Seneca Road asked for an update on plans for Sheldrake River flooding remediation. Deputy Village Manager Steve Pappalardo reported that a meeting was planned with the consultant this week. He has been walking the area in search of suitable sites to create water detention basins and will confer with the Village this week. Tucker also asked how residents could receive regular updates on the planning and Miriam Flisser requested that the neighborhood association designate a contact to liaise with the Village.
Also at the meeting, the Board approved a service agreement with Dolph Rotfeld Engineering to evaluate the Village’s sanitary sewer lines and investigate the causes of sewage surcharges during heavy rainfalls. The company will perform dye or smoke testing on home sewer lines to identify illicit storm water connections and locate and eliminate sources of stormwater sanitary inflow and infiltration into the County’s Trunk Sewer Line. The cost for the work is $15,000
Development at the Golden Horseshoe:
Two New Rochelle residents, Alan Inman and Gary Frebeyer came before the Board to discuss plans to build a new 10,000 square foot retail building in the parking lot of the Golden Horseshoe Shopping Center along Wilmot Road. The shopping center straddles the line between New Rochelle and Scarsdale and therefore components of the plan need to comply with Scarsdale and New Rochelle code and gain approval from both jurisdictions.
Inman expressed concern about unfiltered contaminants that flow from the shopping center into storm drains and spill into the Sheldrake River. He claims that contaminants have been flowing into the system for years and that the shopping center was cited for sanitary code violations several times in the fall of 2011. The storm sewer line was scanned with cameras on December 14, 2011 but the results of the testing have not been provided to the New Rochelle Building Department. Inman believes that the oil/water separator that is planned for the new construction is inadequate. Instead he advocated for a Bio-Retention Filterra system that can handles torrential rains and overflows and would be monitored by the company that does the installation, rather than by the management of the shopping center. Inman appealed to Scarsdale neighbors to get involved to create a positive impact and asked the management of the Golden Horseshoe to be a more responsible neighbor.
Gary Frebeyer of Plymouth Drive in Wilmot Wood also objected to plans for the development on the grounds that many of the parking spots in the complex would be in the back, rather than in the front due to the construction of the new building. According to his calculations 45% of the spots will be in the back of the shopping center which will be inconvenient for shoppers and cause many to circle the lot seeking a spot in the front. He asked that Scarsdale require the management to require more parking spots in the front before approving the project.
