Citizens Nominating Committee Seeks Candidates
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The Procedure Committee invites Scarsdale residents to run for a position on the nonpartisan Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC). As one of 30 volunteers on the CNC you will interview, evaluate and select candidates on the nonpartisan slate running for positions on the village board of trustees in the March 15, 2022 village-wide election.
A candidate for membership on the CNC must be a qualified voter (U.S. citizen and 18 years of age or older), and a resident of Scarsdale for at least two years. The filing deadline for two simple CNC application forms is Wednesday, September 30. The CNC election will be held if in person voting is feasible at Village Hall on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 from 7 AM to 9 PM, or by mail-in ballot.
The CNC meets only 5 or 6 times on weekday evenings beginning at the end of November. CNC meeting dates for 2021-2022 are: Monday, November 29, 2021 (Organization Meeting); Wednesday December 8, Wednesday December 15, Wednesday January 5, Wednesday January 12, and if necessary Wednesday January 19. If in person meetings are not feasible, the CNC will meet virtually on the Zoom platform instead.
For more information contact the Chair of the Procedure Committee, Becky Bach, Edgewood, at beckybach@gmail.com and Vice Chair Richard Pinto, Fox Meadow, at rpinto10583@gmail.com. The other members of the 2021-2022 Procedure Committee, the nonpartisan group of Scarsdale volunteers who administer the nonpartisan election of a new group of 10 members of the CNC annually, are: David Bunzel, Heedan Chung, Larry Dobosh, Madelaine Eppenstein, Lee Fischman, Sergi Flaster, Sarit Fuchs, Sal Jain, Linda Killian, Jon Leslie, Alan Lewis, Michelle Lichtenberg, Abby Olsen, Matt Martin, Barry Meiselman, Adam Rilander, Andrew Sereysky, and Greg Soldatenko.
Two Local Clubs Receive Substantial Tax Refunds from Scarsdale Village and the Scarsdale Schools
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Quaker Ridge Golf ClubTwo local country clubs will receive substantial tax settlements from the Village of Scarsdale. The settlements are a result of assessment appeals which resulted in lower assessments for both clubs from the years 2014 to 2020.
As a result, Fox Meadow Tennis Club will receive $30,500 from Scarsdale Village and another $106,430 from the Scarsdale Schools for a total of $136,930.
Quaker Ridge Golf Club will receive far more. The settle is for $130,000 from the Village, and $403,979 from the Scarsdale Schools for a total of $533,979. The school refund will be made in three annual payments of $134,659 per year.
Together, the refunds will be a substantial loss to the Village and School budgets at a time when they are both struggling to minimize tax increases.
Why were the two properties overassessed? The disparity stems from their assessment as private vs. public clubs. We asked Scarsdale Village Assessor Victoria Sirota for an explanation. Below is her response outlining the Village portion of these refunds.
"The Town/Village has recently settled two separate Tax Certioraris commenced by the Quaker Ridge Golf Club and the Fox Meadow Tennis Club. These settlements represent Assessment Appeals for each of the six years at issue from 2014 through 2020.
The Quaker Ridge Golf Club market values for the years at issue ranged from $13,000,000 to $15,700,000 and the settlement market values ranged from $11,000,000 to $9,300,000, resulting in Town/Village tax refunds totaling approximately $130,000.
The Fox Meadow Tennis Club market values for the six years at issue were approximately $3,000,000 and the settlement market values ranged from $1,600,000 to $2,800,000, resulting in Town/Village refunds totaling $30,500.
For property tax purposes, there are two types of Golf/Country Clubs: public and private. Private clubs are generally high-end and more valuable than public 
Fox Meadow Tennis Clubcourses. However, based on the valuation methodology accepted by the Westchester County Supreme Court a decade ago, regardless of whether a Golf/Country club is public or private, it is valued as if they were operated as a public for-profit facility. The methodology utilized in the valuation of such private facilities is based on the potential income and expenses, i.e., revenue from golf, pro shop, pool, food, tennis, etc., generated from similar public facilities in the region. Being superior in the quality of construction, design, and offering more and better amenities than public facilities, private facilities generate substantially higher income and higher valuations. As such, the value of private facilities should be higher than that of their public counterparts. However, due to the valuation methodology adopted by the Courts, consideration is not given to the Club’s actual revenue for tax purposes – rather, it is based on public facility comparisons.
The Quaker Ridge Golf Club is a not-for-profit corporation, and the subject property is operated as a private club. As noted above, the value of Quaker Ridge Golf Club would seemingly be valued as a private, profitable club, but it is not. The Westchester County Courts view this property as being similar in value to that of public courses in the County. Private swimming and tennis facilities, such as the Fox Meadow Tennis Club, are treated in the same fashion as private golf facilities in that their value is based on income and expenses obtained from swim and tennis clubs in the area, rather than the actual income of the subject property.
Please note that appeals reaching the Westchester County Supreme Court routinely take multiple years to be litigated. Because they are multi-year settlements, the dollar values are generally higher than single year settlements, of course."
Severe Rainstorm Causes Flooding in Scarsdale
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The severe rainstorm on July 8 caused flooding, road closures and trouble for drivers and homeowners. Police, firemen and staff from the highway department set up barricades on flooded streets to prevent cars from getting stuck in deep water.
We received the photo above of a car swamped in the high school parking lot and a report of kids swimming in the flooded lot just before midnight on July 8, 2021.
Also reported were:
At 3:03 pm --Flooding on Rugby Lane where a resident thought a water main had broken – but the problem was the rain.
At 3:30 pm - A tree branch fell on a power line at the intersection of Heathcote and Post Roads
At 3:40 pm – a car flooded on Brookby Road and had to be towed away.
At 3:42 pm - a car flooded at Popham Road and Depot Place and was towed away.
At 3:50 pm – a telephone pole at 2 Weaver Street was struck by lightening.
At 3:53 pm – a car was stuck in high water at the intersection of Paddington and Fox Meadow Roads and was towed.
At 4:07 pm – Greendale Road flooded and was closed.
At 4:20 pm – the intersection of Sprague and Clarence Road flooded and the road was closed.
At 4:32 pm – a car got stuck at the intersection of Sprague and Clarence Roads.
At 5:45 pm –a bus got stuck at the same location and had to be evacuated All the passengers were driven to their destinations and the bus was towed.
At 7:45 am on July 9 – a large tree fell on the Bypass.
Scarsdale Woman's Club Concert with Bob Arthurs Jazz Trio
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Bob Arthurs Jazz Trio Wednesday, July 28, 2021, 7– 9 pm(rain date July 29)
The Music Section of The Scarsdale Woman’s Club has planned an outdoor fundraising concert on the grounds of the Scarsdale Woman’s Club, 37 Drake Road Scarsdale, N.Y. Seating for the concert is in front of the Club House. The funds raised at the performance will be used to support the Music Section’s programs. Bob Arthurs is a jazz musician and recording artist who has performed in the United States and abroad. Selections from the Great American Song book will be played by the Trio with Bob Arthurs, trumpet, Steve LaMattina, guitar, and Scott Fragala, bass.
Throughout his performing and recording career, Bob has taught jazz improvisation. He was a faculty member at the Music Conservatory of Westchester in White Plains, NY where he was Chair of the Conservatory's Jazz Department. Bob has played with well-known musicians such as Sal Mosca, Lee Conitz, Wayne Marsh, Bucky Pizzarelli, and Carmen Leggio. He is a founding member of the Tristan Quartet which is recorded on his CD Notes from the Underground. For the last several summers, he has coordinated the jazz division for the Music in the Alps Festival in Bad Gastein, Austria.
The Jazz concert is open to the public. Tickets are $25 each and checks are to be made out to the Scarsdale Woman’s Club. Reservations may be made by calling 914 220-2387. The Scarsdale Woman’s Club follows the NYS recommendations for outdoor gatherings regarding Covid-19.
BOT Sets Public Hearing on Zoning Code Amendments to Reduce Home Bulk
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Though Scarsdale residents have complained for years about the size and height of new homes and additions, they received little solace when they complained to the Building Department or went before the Board of Architectural Review. Savvy builders, skilled at maximizing the size of homes, exploited the zoning code to earn bonuses in the allowable square footage.
Seeking to address these concerns, a Bulk Review Committee, the Planning Board, the Zoning Board, the Board of Architectural Review, and the Planning Department studied the issues and ultimately formulated a list of recommended changes to the zoning code to reduce the size of Scarsdale homes. In January 2021, the Village Board sent these recommendations to the Planning Board for review, and now the Planning Board has endorsed them.
In their memo to the Board of Trustees, the Planning Board explains, “One way is to look at bulk as the proliferation of homes that tower over, and are inconsistent with the scale of neighboring homes. The Planning Board understands that the floor area ratio (FAR) regulations already in place were implemented to address this issue and have been largely successful at preventing the construction of more “McMansions.” The other way to look at bulk is the gradual change in the character of the neighborhood over time as more and more new homes are built that use the maximum allowable floor area. As this trend continues, homes become taller and closer together. The Planning Board believes that the proposed changes, in combination address the latter issue.”
The Planning Board recommended that these recommendations, in particular the first three, be considered as a combined package, not as separate recommendations to be implemented individually.
Here are the five recommended changes:
1-Reduce the maximum permitted roof height from 35 feet to 32 feet;
2-Reduce the FAR side yard setback bonus by 30%;
Under current Village code a builder can add 100 square feet of floor area for each foot a house is setback beyond the required side yard set back. The new law would reduce that to 70 square feet of floor space for each foot the house is set back beyond the required minimum.
3-Eliminate the requirement that any home addition must be to the rear of the home in order to utilize the side yard FAR bonus;
This was found to incentivize builders to tear down existing homes rather than renovate them.
4-Clarify the Village Code to specify that the FAR garage credit applies to the square footage of the floor level of the garage where cars are parked, excluding space on upper floors.
This bonus was intended only for the floor area of the garage, not for any square footage in a second floor built above the garage, which is now included in the calculation.
5-Require Planning Board Site Plan approval for single family residential projects involving more than 15,000 square feet of gross floor area, eliminating review through a Special Use Permit from the Board of Appeals.
These changes will be the subject of a public hearing on Tuesday July 13, 2021 at the meeting of the Village Board at Scarsdale Village Hall.
