The Hampshire Country Club has filed suit against the village of Mamaroneck after its refusal to consider a zoning change that would allow for the club owners to construct condominiums on the 116-acre property.
The country club, which is located along the Long Island Sound, is suing for $55 million in damages—claiming that Mamaroneck village officials violated the New York State Open Meetings Law by discussing the proposal in a closed-door executive session. Hampshire’s owners said that the illegal meeting was an attempt to drive down the value of the club’s property to allow the village of Mamaroneck to acquire it for itself, according to the Westchester County Business Journal.
Hampshire’s pursuit of legal action didn’t come out of left field—it was already preceded by two attempts to make condominium plans with Mamaroneck, both of which were rejected. The club initially proposed the development of 121 high-end condominiums, and then reduced to 97 units, but the Mamaroneck Village Board of Trustees ultimately voted against the plan and decided not to consider changing the zoning to accommodate the developments.
The owners of Hampshire aren’t the only ones struggling to navigate rezoning processes—the Brynwood Golf & Country Club in Armonk faced similar challenges, among other clubs mentioned in our feature about the golf businesses of Westchester.
Thomas Nappi, the senior project manager for Hampshire, noted that the plans would have served to benefit the fiscal health of the club and generate new property taxes for Mamaroneck and its local school district. Village Mayor Norman Rosenblum said that the board is not required to act on new zoning, adding that people have the option to go before a different land-use board, according to The Journal News.
Both parties are due to appear in court in White Plains on October 10.
