TOM Approves Temporary Parking In Memorial Park

by Harriet Kline

(April 17, 2008) The Mamaroneck Town Board opened with an unusual ceremony on Wednesday, April 16. World War II veteran Tony Marsella, commander of the David Potts, Jr. Post 1156 of the Veterans of Foreign War in Mamaroneck, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang Taps and America the Beautiful.

The Town Board then proceeded to appoint new members to boards and commissions, vote on a new temporary parking lot, approve financing to repair drainage at the Hommocks, and postpone a change to an existing zoning ordinance.

Temporary Parking in Memorial Park

Construction of a parking deck on Myrtle Boulevard will temporarily dislocate residents who have been parking on the site, now designated as Lot#3. (See: Myrtle Blvd Parking Deck to Begin in June.) To accommodate residents who hold the 24-hour parking permits, the board voted to allow parking on a temporary lot to be created on the Vine Street side of Memorial Park. In addition, permit holders will also be allowed to park on Baldwin Avenue and on a portion of Vine Street near Lot #1.

Councilwoman Nancy Seligson characterized this step as a “painful thing to do.” Supervisor Valerie O’Keeffe was adamant that this is just a temporary arrangement and the new paved area will be fully restored for park use as soon as the deck is completed.

Construction on the deck is scheduled to begin on June 1st and run through March 1st, 2009. The new facility will have 46 more parking spaces than the current Lot#3 and is being paid for by Forest City Mamaroneck as a condition in the approval of their permit to build an 8-story apartment building on Madison Avenue. (See: FCD Apartment Gets Board Approval.)

The parking deck will result in a two-level lot on Myrtle Boulevard. Artist's
sketch of the west elevation supplied in 2006 by Divney Tung Schwalbe, LLP.

Hommocks Drain Pipe Financing

Mamaroneck Town has already begun replacing a leaking drainage pipe that runs along its border with Flint Park and near the new artificial turf field being installed there. But, the board had yet to formalize the funding for the project until Wednesday night, when they unanimously approved a bond resolution to finance the repairs.

According to Town Administrator Steve Altieri, the basic cost of the repair work is estimated at $411,736. However, he asked for a bonding resolution that allowed for raising a maximum of $650,000, “in the event there are additional costs associated with the removal of excavated material at the site that may require special processing.”

Larchmont Village incurred significant extra cost in renovating its nearby grass field at Flint Park when contractors unexpectedly encountered tons of old concrete, appliances and other debris that proved costly to remove.

Zoning Ordinance Proposal

A number of recent Town Board meetings have included public discussions of a proposal to make changes in the zoning ordinance dealing with prosecution of non-conforming uses in housing and business units. Town Attorney William Maker has proposed these changes to shift the burden of proof to the landowner, who would have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the non-conformity was there before he bought the property.

When they reviewed this proposal, members of theTown Planning Board were uncomfortable with the potential for incarceration of convicted violators. Mr. Maker expressed his feeling that potential “incarceration has a place in the law.” However, he agreed to reword the proposed ordinance to make a distinction between first offenders and recurrent violators. He will then return the draft to the board for public discussion, send it on for comments from the Planning Board and then bring it back to the Town Board for additional public discussion and a vote.

New Town Board/Commission Appointees

Board members expressed pride in announcing what they characterized as a stellar list of volunteers to serve on Town boards and commissions. Newly appointed and/or reappointed are:

Next regularly scheduled Town Board meetings are set for May 7 and May 21.

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