by Kathy Savolt -
Dog Park – At the work session the Board of Trustees (BOT) discussed opening the Bark Park at Harbor Island to non-residents. Apparently, a recent legal opinion determined that the park must be open to residents and non-residents alike even though the inquiries from non-residents has been “tepid” as described in a memo from Deputy Village Manager Dan Sarnoff. See HERE.
A process must be developed to ensure that all dogs are vaccinated and licensed and the BOT discussed a fee of $100/year. There was no discussion on limiting the number of dogs as in other municipalities. This is a way of discouraging professional dog walkers.
There are other nearby dog parks, some of which are free. These include Port Chester, Harrison, New Rochelle (which charges non-residents $100/year for up to four dogs), and Rye (which is not fenced and charges $30/year for up to three dogs and is limited to early mornings). Additionally, Playland beach is available to dogs from October to the end of April and “Dog Beach” in Larchmont is available year round.
Sanitation Fees – At the work session, the BOT discussed adding a sanitation fee for the pickup of trash and recycling from commercial properties. Trustee Lou Young stated that he wanted to “remove sanitation from property taxes to fees” indicating that all sanitation pickups would be fee-based. This idea was not supported by his fellow BOT members.
Sarnoff noted a study on operations in the Department of Public Works from “about 10 years ago” and promised to share same with the BOT. Mayor Sharon Torres asked Young to take the lead on this issue and work with staff to draft something for the BOT to review and he agreed.
Zoning Changes – Once again, the BOT continued the process of changing the zoning code to allow animal hospitals and pet day care facilities in the C-1 and M-1 zones. This time, they opened a public hearing on the new law but stated they had not received comments from all the Village land use boards. Once again potential doggie day care owner Jonathan Friedman implored the Village to make this change as he is ready to sign a lease on a now vacant property. The public hearing was adjourned to be continued at a future meeting.
At the work session, the BOT also discussed revising the sections of the code that address eating establishments and take-out in the commercial zone, primarily Mamaroneck Avenue. With more eating establishments and major changes in the way customers interact with establishments, the current code is woefully outdated. The Village’s planning professionals, along with members of the Zoning Board have been asking for these changes for a few years. Village Attorney Robert Spolzino was asked to work on updating the code.
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