A fire started late one night a quarter century ago in the basement of an old village of Mamaroneck watering hole called The Town House, spreading quickly through the mostly wooden bar and into a couple of neighboring buildings. When the flames died down, all that was left where the three buildings had stood was a multi-acre hole on Mamaroneck Avenue, in the heart of the village”™s downtown.
That hole remained for more than six years, as the property switched hands and developers several times while residents increasingly groaned about what they considered a very visible eyesore.
Mayor Norman Rosenblum said the village won”™t let that happen again. “For me it has to do with marketing,” he said. “It has a negative impact (on downtown business) that just perpetuates itself.”
The Mamaroneck board of trustees updated the village zoning code June 23, adding a provision that says property owners in the central business district can”™t get a demolition permit until they already have approvals in place for any new construction.
Rosenblum said the law will protect the “aesthetic integrity” of the business district by preventing developers from knocking down an existing building until they are ready to break ground on its replacement. In short, there won”™t be another downtown hole.
The Town House hole, where the Regatta condominiums now stand, is a favorite example used by village officials to illustrate what the new law could prevent. Yet, that situation ”“ stemming not from a lag between demolition and building permits but rather from a fire ”“ wouldn”™t have been prevented by the new law.
What some residents said the new provision may try to prevent though ”“ or at least delay ”“ is the conversion of the former village movie theater into a condominium complex in the center of Mamaroneck”™s main drag on Mamaroneck Avenue.
Bow Tie Cinemas L.L.C. closed the 89-year-old Mamaroneck Playhouse in April and told village officials it planned to knock down most of the former theater and replace it with a condominium building with more than 30 units. The marquee and façade would be kept intact for aesthetic purposes. Mamaroneck officials initially expected Bow Tie to apply for a demolition permit in June, but no permit has been filed.
The mayor said he has reached out to Bow Tie management and set up meetings to discuss the company”™s plans, with the hope of retaining at least part of the building as a theater or cultural center. The company has not responded, Rosenblum said.
The mayor said the new law had nothing to do with Bow Tie”™s condo plan. The law defines the central business district as the area on Mamaroneck Avenue stretching from Boston Post Road to the railroad tracks parallel with Halstead Avenue, which is where the theater is located. The zoning code allows for residential development there.
“This is still America,” Rosenblum said. “If you own a piece of property you should be able to develop it within the existing process.”
Bob Galvin, the village planner, noted municipalities have similar laws in place, including Pleasantville and Mount Kisco. Galvin told the Business Journal the new law did not, in effect, change the processes of obtaining a demolition permit and applying for a construction permit. He said it simply consolidated the processes, which go though Planning Board. Such laws, he said, prevent a downtown from falling into neglect, and in Mamaroneck”™s case it protects a thriving strip of businesses aesthetically and by ensuring continuing foot traffic.
“We want to continue the look and feel, the walking environment and not have gaps in the streetscape,” he said.
Although officials say the new law wasn”™t put in place to stop any potential conversion of the former movie theater, residents still lament the loss of the cinema as the village losing part of its history. Peter Fellows, of the Mamaroneck Historical Society, said during a recent appearance on local access station LMC-TV, “It”™s like waking up one morning and not having any memory past last week who you are.”
