The Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club won a sixth lawsuit in a row with the village of Mamaroneck regarding the redevelopment of the club”™s aging facilities.
The club”™s plans would include alteration and expansion of the existing clubhouse, construction of four free-standing buildings for seasonal residences for club members, a new two-story recreational building, a new six-lane pool, a new yacht club building, and new cabanas and locker rooms.Â
“We”™ve been attempting, since 2004, to try to obtain site plan approval from the village to redevelop the club property,” said the attorney for Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club, Joel H. Sachs of Keane & Beane P.C. “Every time we ever brought any application before the village we keep getting rejected or delayed, and we”™ve had to bring six different lawsuits and we”™ve won every one of them.”
On July 1, the appellate division of the state Supreme Court unanimously rejected the claim of the village of Mamaroneck Zoning Board of Appeals and the Shore Acres Property Association (“SAPOA”) that the application by Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club for seasonal residences had to be decided under a 2006 Zoning Amendment that limited the number of seasonal residential units to 12 and required that all such units had to be located within existing buildings.Â
“The proposed project is at odds with the purposes of the local waterfront revitalization plan and will result in a massive change in the character of the village”™s waterfront,” said Janet Insardi, the village attorney. “At the conclusion of the SEQRA process the planning board found that the proposed project, which included alterations to the main clubhouse, 32 new seasonal residences, a new yacht club/dock masters building and a new recreation building and pool complex did not minimize adverse impacts.”
Sachs said the village has expended more than $225,000 in legal fees in its failed attempt to block the redevelopment plans of the club and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in new taxes.Â
Bernard J. Rosenshein, president of Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club, said the alterations to the club property are necessary to enhance the club”™s economic viability so as to ensure that it can remain a luxurious, well equipped and aesthetically pleasing beach and yacht club meeting the needs of its members well into the future.Â
“The only way we can get out of our financial difficulties it is by having the village approve the site plan application,” Sachs said.
Sachs said the reason the village is against the project is a “small, vocal group of neighbors who live near the club” called the Shore Acres Property Owners Association, whom Sachs said are concerned about increased traffic and noise from the club once redevelopment is complete.
Sachs said the club has another lawsuit pending against the planning board seeking to hold it in contempt for not approving its 2004 site plan, which also states that because the village has refused to act on site plan approval, the club is entitled to an approval by default.
He said there is a separate pending multimillion dollar damage action to compensate the club for all the lost revenues it has not been able to bring in.
Sachs said the club”™s goal is not to obtain millions from the village, just to get the site plan approval.
