June 13th Mamaroneck School Board Meeting

Dear Friends,

I wish to thank the Mamaroneck School District Board of Education (BOE) for taking the time to have a special meeting [on Tuesday, June 13] to listen to the community’s serious concerns about accepting a “gift” of land from Hampshire Country Club. (Click here to watch LMC Media's coverage of the meeting.) I believe the BOE heard new and knowledgeable viewpoints about how problematic this Trojan Horse gift is from a legal, environmental and ethical perspective for the District.

I spoke about how important the Marine Recreation and the Marine Commercial zones are to the Village of Mamaroneck as a whole. Our boatyards and our yacht clubs are always under pressure to develop their waterfront land for condominium development. If that were allowed to happen at Hampshire it could change the whole character of the Village of Mamaroneck.

Rezoning for Hampshire would be the very definition of spot zoning. It would be the camel‘s nose under the tent that would lead to the overdevelopment of our waterfront and the destruction of the best small boat harbor in the area. I believe the sanctity of our zoning and our land use board decisions must be defended. Those laws are what protects the community from the whims and avarice of outside developers looking to maximize profits and move on to their next opportunity.

I stated to the BOE very clearly during the meeting that the Village of Mamaroneck Board of Trustees has NO appetite for considering a rezoning of this property. A previous Board rightly refused to rezone years ago. Hampshire sued the Village over that issue and LOST that litigation. It is ridiculous to think we would now reconsider that decision because the developer has enlisted the school board to lobby on their behalf.

I completely understand the very legitimate concerns of both the BOE and some of the residents who spoke last night for adding more fields for the District. As a Father of three graduates of the school system, and the grandfather of two soon to be students, I completely sympathize with the difficulties the District faces.

This proposed “gift”, for a plethora of reasons that were clearly explained last night, will solve none of the pressing issues of the community and will most likely put the District in an adversarial legal and public relations situation with the Village of Mamaroneck.

I offered to the BOE last night and I reiterate again today that the Village of Mamaroneck is eager to sit down with the Board to more clearly and thoroughly explain our position and the long history of the Hampshire developers litigations and machinations. I know we are all busy and summer is fast approaching but this meeting should happen before the Board makes a decision with negative consequences.

Thank you all for taking the time to read these emails the past few days. This issue needed to be addressed in a timely fashion but it has not distracted our focus on the other important issues that confront us in Mamaroneck.

Respectfully,
Tom Murphy
Mayor, Village of Mamaroneck
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