A controversial redevelopment project will begin a crucial stage of its public environmental review this week, with the village of Mamaroneck Planning Board slated to pore over a proposal by Hampshire Country Club to add more than 100 units of year-round housing to its property.
On Feb. 14, after press time, the Planning Board will officially open up a public hearing to address the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, DEIS, of Hampshire’s plan to build 105 residential units on its Long Island Sound-adjacent property located in Orienta Point. The DEIS was officially accepted for review by the Planning Board in January.
Under the current proposed plan, the 105 units would be split into 44 single-family homes and 61 carriage homes, and the current 18-hole golf course would be reduced to just nine holes.
According to Hampshire, which released a statement regarding the upcoming public hearing this week, the units are being introduced as an effort to keep the club economically viable for the future.
“The national trend toward adding housing to country club properties has largely been driven by market conditions,” reads the statement. “Some clubs here in Westchester have been forced to close their doors forever, putting their properties to other uses, resulting in the permanent loss of open space.”
Hampshire’s most recent iteration of the project marks the second attempt to redevelop portions of its property after a 2014 proposal was rejected by the village; a denial that lead to a $55 million lawsuit against Mamaroneck that was eventually thrown out by a judge in 2016. A subsequent appeal by Hampshire was also thrown out by a judge just months after.
While Hampshire was denied its original proposal, which would require a rezoning of the property, it has continued to push its original plan—which would have seen almost the same number of residential units condensed into just 2 acres—as an alternative.
Since its inception, the proposal has faced consistent pushback from a collective of homeowners in the Orienta Point neighborhood who have raised concerns over the redevelopment’s potential impact on flooding, possible pollution, sewer infrastructure, and a five-year-long construction period.
As of press time, the Planning Board will begin the review of the document and kickstart what will lead to a decision to approve the plan as is, with exceptions, or deny the club’s DEIS outright.
