News from Village Hall: Marx Mansion to be Demolished

The saga of the Marx mansion at 15 Gatehouse Road in Scarsdale has finally come to an end. At a Valentine’s Day Board of Trustees meeting Trustee Stacey Brodsky announced that the Board would grant Anthony Scarcella a permit to demolish the house which has become “detrimental to the community” and has “adversely affected property values and the marketability of neighboring properties.”

The 1903 brick mansion that was originally the home of toy magnate Louis Marx is 9,203 square feet and originally sat on 20.5 acres in Scarsdale. In 1985 Scarcella bought the house and the property and built 29 homes there, leaving the original house on 1.75 acres. In 1985 Scarcella sold the mansion to Alexander Radin for $550,000 and repurchased it from Radin’s estate for $2,500,000 in 2007.

Scarcella sought to preserve the house and build three additional homes on the property. In 2007 he was denied variances to subdivide the property and the Committee for Historic Preservation found that the mansion had historical importance and denied him the demolition permit.

The property has been in litigation ever since and in December 2011 Scarcella asked for a hardship hearing. He presented engineers reports, estimates for restoring the property, and reports from an accountant and two licensed real estate brokers. After reviewing this data, and hiring an independent structural engineering company to evaluate the home, the Board of Trustees determined the following:

• There is severe structural damage to the house
• In one section the floor has collapsed
• The mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems all need to be replaced
• It would cost $3 million to restore the house
• When that $3 million is added to the $2.5 million Scarcella spent on the purchase, it was determined that he could not expect to receive a reasonable return on his investment by restoring it.
• The house has been on the market since March 2011 and there have been no bids
• The building is detrimental to the community and adversely affects property values
• The likelihood of continued litigation is not in the best interest of the community and would not further the community’s interest in historic preservation.

Therefore, the Board granted Scarcella the permit to demolish the home.

Flooding Remediation

In other business at the Board of Trustees Meeting, Mayor Flisser announced that Westchester County will designate $8 million for seven capital projects to address chronic flooding along the Bronx River and Sound Shore. Five of the projects are located on County property and will be administered by the County. One of the Bronx River projects and another along the Hutchinson River should help mitigate flooding in Scarsdale.

The Bronx River project is located within the Bronx River Reservation in Yonkers and Eastchester and does not involve any Village funding. The work will entail the re-alignment of the river and bank stabilization at Garth Woods and Harney Road.

The other project involves work along the Hutchinson River and entails culvert improvements, bank stabilization and widening of the riverbed in Scarsdale, New Rochelle and Eastchester. The County has identified $2.5 million in County funds for this project, representing 50% of the estimated $5 million total project cost. Scarsdale, New Rochelle, and Eastchester will be responsible for funding the $2.5 million balance.

Over the next 6-8 months the Village will work with the County, New Rochelle and Eastchester officials to define the project scope and cost and to identify legal and funding issues in anticipation of bidding out the work and constructing the project.

Flisser said, “The Hutchinson River grant has the potential to correct serious water and sewer issues for our residents as well as residents in neighboring communities. Although we will be required to pay half of the costs, we will commit to finding the necessary funding, and we already have FEMA grant applications in place.”

Resident Petition about Building Department:

At the meeting it was announced that the Village has received a petition from Ruth Frankel of 17 Richbell Road requesting changes in the management of the building department.

The village also received a communication from Bonatura Lugrin of 63 Church Lane indicating that her signature was forged on the petition and that she disagreed with the content.