Candidates Wanted for Village Trustee and Mayor
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The Citizen's Nominating Committee (CNC) is looking for potential candidates for Mayor and Village Trustee. Our non-partisan system tries to get the best Scarsdale citizens to serve on our Village Board. The committee considers all who are interested in the positions available. For further information, please contact a member of the CNC ( http://www.scarsdaleprocedurecommittee.org/ncmembers.htm ) or CNC Chair Bruce Wells at 472-2696 or brucekwells@gmail.com .
The deadline for submission of materials is January 18th at 5 p.m. The CNC plans to announce the slate on January 26th.
Ridgeway Golf Club Sold to the French American School
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It’s finally settled -- Ridgeway Golf Club will now be home to the French American School – ending the property’s long history as a golf club. The French American school reached a deal to purchase the club for $11 million earlier this month, and plans to consolidate their 852 students onto one campus. Currently they run a preschool in Scarsdale, a lower school in Larchmont and an upper school in Mamaroneck.
It is difficult to imagine the grand clubhouse with its gracious dining room and marble locker rooms as a school. Beyond the indoor facility there’s an Olympic-sized outdoor pool, ten tennis courts and the 18-hole golf course. The club was the site of many happy occasions – including bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings, delicious Sunday brunches and charity fundraisers. The dining room windows looked out over the bucolic golf course and dining there you could easily forget you were minutes from downtown White Plains.
The city of White Plains had considered purchasing the 128-acre property and creating a semi-private recreational facility but the school stepped in with their offer before White Plains could reach a decision. According to a statement from the school, they will no longer maintain a golf course on the property, but much of the land will remain as open space.
The club began in 1912 as the Gedney Farm Hotel that included tennis facilities, a swimming pool, bowling, squash courts, stables, a polo field, ice skating 
rink, and a kennel for pets of guests. A picture of the original pool from a penny postcard is included here. Howard Willets, who owned racehorses, stabled them in a barn that is now the men's locker room. Also shown here is a lease for the property for the creation of the Gedney Farm Golf Club in 1922. On September 20, 1924 a fire destroyed the original hotel and Eddie Cantor, a guest at the time, witnessed the 9-hour blaze.
The golf course remained as part of the Gedney Farm Golf Course until 1952 when it was purchased by a group of individuals from Harry Lewis and renamed the Ridgeway Country Club.
Though it thrived for decades, the club fell on hard times in 2009, losing 25% if it’s membership. Facing a deficit of $1 million on a $4 million budget, they originally sought to sell the club for $20 million and to keep it open for another five years. They also reduced the initiation fees hoping to attract enough new members to stay afloat. However existing members left for other clubs, and though some new members signed on, there were not enough members to meet expenses.
In December 2010, the club was sold for half of the original asking price. Sadly, this beautiful expanse in the heart of White Plains will now be used for education, rather than recreation. Share your memories of Ridgeway below:
Trustees Table Open Space Fund and Approve Plans for Kids BASE
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The Land Use Committee of the Scarsdale Village Board of Trustees met on Wednesday December 8 to continue the discussion on the establishment of an Open Space Fund to allow the Village to purchase selected properties and safeguard them from development. The meeting began with a presentation from Village staff, which addressed the creation of a fund. Upon completion of the presentation, the trustees had a discussion and then opened the floor to the public to voice their comments.
Here are a few of the highlights of the presentation, titled “Community Preservation Fund and Real Estate Transfer Tax Report,”
• In order to establish a Community Preservation Fund, an Open Space Advisory Board and impose a Real Estate Transfer Tax to fund it, the Board of Trustees would need to adopt a resolution and hold a mandatory referendum.
• The Community Preservation Fund would be used to preserve community character by acquiring an interest in real property, establish a bank of development rights and for management and stewardship of the program.
• An Advisory Board would be established to review and make recommendations on proposed acquisitions. The Board would consist of five to seven members with experience in conservation and land preservation, who are not already serving on another town board.
• A Community Preservation Project Plan would be required to list every parcel under consideration for acquisition with a detailed evaluation of available land use alternatives, and prioritization for preservation. This plan could be amended at any time in the 60-day period before the referendum and would need to be updated once every five years.
• Selection criteria for properties to be preserved include ecological importance, protection from flooding or use as a water resource, distinctive character, park or recreational value, important landscapes, capacity for public use and enjoyment, preservation of native biological diversity, passive use and preservation of culture.
• The current list of parcels for consideration include: Scarsdale’s Woman’s Club, the Church on Murray Hill and Post Roads, Fenway Golf Club, Ramsey Farm, Boulder Brook, Parlato Property, Quaker Ridge Golf Course, and the gas station on the corner of Post and Popham Roads.
• A Real Estate Transfer Tax of up to 2% of the amount above the median sale price of a Scarsdale home would be imposed and paid by the purchasers of homes in Scarsdale.
• The timeline for the establishment of an Open Space Fund includes committee meetings on draft proposals, public hearings, and adoption of the local law and plan by a vote. Pending approval, there would be a village wide referendum.
In the discussion many of the trustees, pointed out issues with the plan, and concurred that this project might not received the necessary public support. Trustee Flisser expanded upon this concern by acknowledging that the public may turn the proposed plan down, taking away time and energy that could have gone towards a more viable project.
Lynne Clark, a Scarsdale resident, real estate broker and member of the Conservation and Advisory Council, said that though she liked the idea of the preservation fund, she would not support the Real Estate Transfer Tax.
Commenting on the fund and the meeting Clark said, “As a member of the Conservation Advisory Council, I am an advocate for the preservation of open space. However, I am not in favor of taxing buyers to build up a fund to do so. If in the future our Village Trustees feel this is a top priority, the expense should be shared by all the residents of the Village. It seems to me that a few new residents to our community should not have to bear the brunt of raising funds for the enjoyment of the many who already live here. It is not fair, in my opinion. In principle, as an experienced real estate broker at Houlihan Lawrence, I felt also that in this economy and with our housing market slowly easing out of a decline, it was not an appropriate time to put an additional transfer tax burden on Scarsdale buyers. Buyers today are looking for the best value and are searching everywhere. Our prices and taxes are already among the highest in the County and State. To maintain a stable real estate market here, we need to remain competitive with other fine Westchester communities who do not have such a tax. I think our hard working Trustees have made the right decision for this time and place."
The Board decided to postpone the issue for later discussion and to consider doing a survey of residents to assess support for an Open Space Fund. The Board concluded that they needed to get a feel for community sentiment before moving forward. Read the report in its entirety on the Village website.
Kids’ B.A.S.E: In other news from Village Hall, the Village Law Committee met with representatives of Kids’ B.A.S.E. of Scarsdale on Wednesday December 7th to discuss plans to build extra classrooms in the interior courtyard and as well as a playground on the perimeter of their site facing Saxon Woods.
The extra classrooms would allow the school to create a proper library and a resource/discovery center. It was made clear that these plans, specifically the playground, would in no way infringe on the Saxon Woods property and that the new facilities will provide a safe environment for the children. Trustee Toder asked the attendees if there were any downsides to the plan and no objections or comments to his question were voiced. Since the Board of Trustees determined that their interests are protected by the plan, the committee unanimously decided to support the building improvements.
Residents Invited to Community Meetings Today
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Within the last few weeks, Scarsdale has experienced a number of deaths under tragic circumstances. Times like these raise difficult questions with no easy answers. In response, the community is planning a number of town meetings to be held on Wednesday, December 15th at:
1:00 pm - Scarsdale Women’s Club, 37 Drake Road
7:00 pm - Girl Scout House, 31 Wayside Lane
8:30 pm -Wayside Cottage, 1039 Post Rd.
Scarsdale mental health professionals, clergy and civic leaders will provide leadership and facilitate discussion. The meetings will focus on ways we can support each other and the community. In addition, resources and information on suicide, including a discussion about how to talk to children of all ages, will be presented.
To attend, please RSVP by CLICKING HERE or by calling Scarsdale Family Counseling Service at 723-3281.
Amy Paulin Receives Vision of Community Award
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The Scarsdale Teen Center (STC) hosted the Tenth Annual Visions of Community Awards at Scarsdale High School on December 5th, honoring New York State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin for her dedication and service to the Scarsdale community. The re-elected Assemblywoman described the event as “exciting” and said that she felt “honored” to be given this award. Ms. Paulin also said that since her oldest daughter was on the original STC teen board, she has a special connection with the Center due to her involvement in helping the teen center grow and become the establishment it is today.
Speaking for the STC Adult Board, President Margarita Meyer said “We are thrilled that Assemblywoman Paulin has agreed to be the recipient of our tenth annual Visions of Community Award. Paulin epitomizes lifelong commitment to community service especially with regard to our youth and their families.”
During the ceremony, Ms. Paulin’s husband, Ira Schuman and a close friend, Barbara Jaffe described Amy as an amazing person, sincerely dedicated to a variety of programs and events in Scarsdale and Westchester. Kendra Charisse Porter, the new executive director of the Scarsdale Teen Center also spoke, saying, “it is important to honor those people who have supported the Teen Center … it’s extremely vital that you have the community involvement, and Visions of Community is just that.”
The Scarsdale Teen Center is in its eleventh year of operation.
Scarsdale Teen Center
862 Scarsdale Avenue
914-722-8358
www.scarsdaleteencenter.com
This article was written by Elliot Liskin -- a junior at Scarsdale High School and a member of the Scarsdale Teen Center board.
Photo Captions and Credits:
(Top) Sam Gonzalez, Co-President Teen Board, Kendra Charisse Porter, Executive Director, Scarsdale Teen Center, Ira Schuman, husband of Amy Paulin, and New York State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin
(Right) New York State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin
Photo credits: Carl Desir
