Hampshire owners hope new development plan quells concerns
Thomas Nappi is hoping the third time is a charm for Hampshire Country Club”™s redevelopment proposal.
The owner of Hampshire Country Club in Mamaroneck, Hampshire Recreation LLC, and developer Toll Brothers submitted a redevelopment plan for the club to the village”™s Planning Board on July 3, marking the third proposal for the property in a year and a half. The previous two plans were rejected by the village”™s board of trustees.
The latest plan includes building 44 single-family homes and 61 townhouses on the site of the club”™s 18-hole golf course. It also calls for an expanded pool, a new tennis facility and renovated clubhouse. Nappi, senior project manager, said the project will bypass sensitive environmental areas on the property and will maintain roughly 73 acres of open space.
- Thomas Nappi at Hampshire Country Club. File photo
“Our new plan balances development and open space preservation, and it maintains the recreational use of the portion of the property in the marine recreation zone,” Nappi said. “It will allow Hampshire to remain a vibrant club for many years to come.”
Nappi said Hampshire”™s golf course will remain open during the approval process, which he expects to last roughly two years. The club, on Cove Road in Mamaroneck, features an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, swimming pools and a 35,000-square-foot clubhouse. The golf course will be open for at least another two years before it will be closed and developed, Nappi said. Mamaroneck and Rye Neck High School”™s golf teams, which practice at the club, will continue to do so while the course is still open.
Last year, the owners proposed building 121 luxury condominiums, which were opposed by neighbors and eventually rejected by the village board. A second, 96-unit plan was eventually submitted, which was also turned down by the board. Hampshire filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court challenging the village board”™s refusal to rezone the property for nonmember uses. The owners sought $55 million in damages, contending that the village was effectively taking the property by refusing to rezone. Nappi said the lawsuit was still pending and declined to provide any further information.
Because the new plan does not include any zoning modifications, the proposal will be either approved or denied by the village Planning Board, not the board of trustees. The club”™s previous plans included the construction of condominiums attached to its clubhouse, leaving the golf course almost entirely untouched. Because the clubhouse is in a marine recreation zone, the club was forced to request a zoning change from the board, which was denied.
“It was conveyed to us that if we wanted to get something done, we needed to come up with a zoning-compliant plan,” Nappi said. “And that”™s what we”™ve done.”
The development plan was scheduled to be introduced and discussed at the July 8 Planning Board meeting.
Before the meeting, Assistant Village Manager Daniel J. Sarnoff, citing pending litigation, declined to comment on the specifics of the plan.
“The Planning Board is going to review the application in the appropriate manner,” Sarnoff said. “There”™s an established protocol and that”™s going to be followed.”
Though just seven of Hampshire”™s 121 acres are in the town of Mamaroneck, Town Administrator Stephen V. Altieri said the town would also follow the application process “closely” as it is proceeds.
The club”™s two previous development plans were met with resistance from town officials and neighbors alike.
Mamaroneck Coastal Environment Coalition Inc., a citizens group formed in 2013 in response to Hampshire”™s development plans, filed a lawsuit against the country club, which it said was improperly hosting nonmember events on its grounds.
In June, New York State Supreme Court Judge Linda S. Jamieson dismissed the lawsuit, which Nappi said he felt was a “sound decision.” Representatives from Mamaroneck Coastal Environment Coalition could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit or the most recent plan.
Before the July 8 meeting, Nappi said he felt the club did an “admirable job” addressing concerns raised with the previous plans. Because the planning process is still in its introductory stage, renderings or more detailed plans were not immediately available.
“Every plan we”™ve developed was developed with the goal of trying to create a thoughtful and sensible development that would allow for the long-term viability of the club,” Nappi said. “It is our goal that Hampshire will be here for the long term.”