Scarsdale Village Board Overrides Cap and Responds to Resident Petition

At the 2-28-12 meeting of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees, Mayor Flisser responded to a petition about the Scarsdale Village Building Department, signed by over 200 residents. After hearing comments from a few residents at meeting on February 22nd Flisser concluded that some of the dissatisfaction is not with the Building Department at all, but with the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and Board of Architectural Review, some of which are regulated by state law. In addition, there appears to be confusion among residents about whom has jurisdiction over what, and whether issues are between neighbors or between residents and the Village. She noted that changes in the water table and watercourses have also contributed to the problems. The Board will continue to discuss the issues raised and to look for solutions. A subsequent meeting on these issues is planned for 6:55 pm on March 19th and the public is invited to attend.

Her full comments are published below.

Override: In other business, the Village Board passed a resolution to override the state imposed 2% tax cap, which is permitted with a 60% vote of the Board of Trustees. Trustee Steves explained that the override will prevent the Village from paying penalties if the cap had to overridden due to an error or to supply funds needed to provide the “appropriate level of service.” He also explained that the some expenses are exempt from the cap – so though the budget may go up 4%/ the Village would still be in compliance with the cap, allowing legal exemptions.

At the public hearing, Robert Berg of Tisdale Road spoke in favor of the override, saying that additional capital expenditures were necessary to fund the tax revaluation and renovation of the firehouse adjacent to Village Hall.

Fees: The Board of Trustees agreed to raise Village fees for a host of services, including:

Water service connection
Street service connection charge
Fire protection
Commercial connection fee
Repairs to damaged water meters
Testing water meters
Temporary discontinuance of water service
Fire hydrant use
Water charges for construction se
Water use charges
Neighbor notification fee for BOA, BAR and CHP applications
Parking fees for Christie Place and Freightway Garages
Towing charges

These increases are projected to raise an additional $102,000 that will be used for the repair of Village roads.

Gifts: The Board approved a gift from the Friends of the Scarsdale Parks to fund landscaping at Audrey Hochberg Pond Preserve adjacent to the Scarsdale Library.

Here are Mayor Flisser’s comments concerning the Building Department:

We recently received a petition concerning complaints about the Building Department, which was signed by over 200 residents. In response to the petition, we held a Municipal Service Committee Meeting on Feb 22. The meeting was well attended by residents, Village Board members (all were present) and Staff. The residents present were given the opportunity to review personal experience with Building issues.

Some general points expressed became apparent:

1) The dissatisfaction is sometimes not actually with "The Building Dept." In fact, some Scarsdale residents are unaware of the jurisdiction of the Building Department.

2) Land Use Boards' decisions, particularly Planning& ZBA, are part of the dissatisfaction expressed. The BAR doesn't seem to be part of this issue as stated, but residents sometimes think the BAR has wider jurisdiction than it does, and express building issue concerns at BAR meetings (about storm water, demolition, and trees preservation, for example.)

3) The Legislation and rules that govern the Land Use Board decisions may be part of the reasons for dissatisfaction.

4) Changes in our water table and water courses, due to development, and/or water events, have contributed to these issues.

5) Residents are unsure what the Villages' jurisdiction is, and what constitutes an inter-neighbor dispute. This is a confusing situation that requires education.

6) It is generally unclear which complaints are appropriate for the Building Dept/Engineering Department to respond to, how it responds and what the usual for practices for response are.

a) It is often not apparent which complaints require representation by professional personnel, and which do not.

7) Residents are unaware how many complaints are handled, and what procedures are for serious actions by the Village (i.e. Stop Work Orders.)

8) Some better behavior by builders, i.e. voluntary screening, etc, as given by examples at the meeting, would do much to calm neighborhoods during construction phases.

9) Building procedures, and the Building Dept itself, is an important interface between residents and government, and needs better public inter-relations process.

10) Ecology/Sustainability solutions, i.e. best practices re water use, etc, should be developed and encouraged.

11) Some enforcement issues were mentioned by residents, especially concerning Article 254 (Storm water management.)

This above list is from notes that I took from residents' comments at the meeting.

Land Use regulation, Open Space Preservation, Development Impacts on our community's environment (both natural and financial); Regulation of Private Property and other items presented, should be seen in the context of a major issue of our time, Development vs. Preservation. In addition, Administrative management practices concerning building must be improved to create more efficiency, better resident and neighborhood satisfaction with the process, and better final outcomes.

The Village Board will continue to define these issues, and to search for solutions to the problems voiced, at upcoming meetings.