Mamaroneck Village trustees on Monday approved a local law that would allow alternates to be appointed

to both the village’s planning board and zoning board of appeals.

The law, which passed 3-2, is designed to ensure that both the planning and zoning appeals boards always have quorums, thus guaranteeing that items that come before them get heard.

Mary Vozza, a candidate for the board of trustees, spoke in favor of the law, saying that it maintains fairness and balance between the competing values of the land use boards.

Others, however, had concerns about the law – which at least one trustee said is designed to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.

Clark Neuringer, a Zoning Board of Appeals member, urged the board not to give the boards’ chairmen discretion in choosing alternates, as such a practice could lead to cherry-picking votes.

Other municipalities around Westchester have or are considering enacting similar laws.  In Larchmont, the planning board has two alternates and the zoning board has three. Bronxville, Scarsdale and Irvington have alternates as well.

In other business, trustees unanimously approved a settlement plan under which the village will pay $40,000 to Allbright Electric for the costs of delays on the construction of the new firehouse on Palmer Avenue.  Allbright sued the village for $340,000.

The board by a 3-2 vote also authorized Village Manager Richard Slingerland to formalize a settlement agreement authorizing the village to pay $825,000 to the Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club in exchange for ending years of litigation

             with thanks to Mamaroneck Village Manager Richard Slingerland