Residents Say New Flood Plane Regulations Do Not Go Far Enough

Water rushed into a home on Willow Lane during Hurricane Ida in September 2021.The Village Board of Trustees got some pushback from an attorney and residents on proposed changes to flood damage prevention laws that do not go far enough to address longstanding issues with flooding in the Village.

On Tuesday night June 14 the Board held a hearing on code changes to bring the Village into compliance with FEMA requirements for flood damage protection.

In summary, the changes would require new and replacement equipment and prefab homes located within a Special Flood Hazard Area to be sited two feet above the base flood level, to prevent damage during storms. The requirements pertain to electrical equipment, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, pool equipment and generators.

According to a memo from Village Planner Greg Cutler, “The purpose of this code is to require that all new or substantially improved development meets a higher standard for flood safety and damage prevention. The freeboard requirement ensures that new construction and substantially improved construction remains safe and undamaged during flood events that exceed the base flood elevation for a 1% annual chance storm.”

At the hearing, the Board heard from attorney Helen Mauch of Mintzer Mauch LLP who is representing 30 clients who live in in a sensitive drainage area along Garden, Cushman, Willow and Sheldrake Roads.

She pointed out that these changes do nothing to address her clients’ concerns about flooding risks from construction. She said that her clients have written to the Village to ask for stricter requirements in sensitive drainage areas including grade changes, tree removal and retaining walls, as recommended by the Village Engineer.

She wanted to know why the Village was taking a piecemeal approach to the issue and said these proposed changes are “simply not enough.” Furthermore, the Board has rejected her clients’ request to impose a temporary development work moratorium, even though it's well within the Board’s authority to make the legislative changes that will provide some protection to residents living in sensitive drainage areas. Ms. Mauch asserted that the “changes need to be made now.”

Her client Helen Maccarino of 83 Cushman Road also spoke. She told the board that “a lot of neighbors are struggling with the repetitive flooding that goes on primarily due to stormwater runoff,” and asked the Board to amend the code. She asked the Board to be more specific about when they will be tackling this issue and said it should be given a high priority due to climate change and more ferocious storms that are happening more frequently.

Bob Harrison also voiced his concerns about flooding of the sanitary sewer lines. He said there have been issues with roots growing into the lines. He also complained about heavy rains flooding basements.

Both the Mayor and the Village Manager responded.

Veron said, “she understands the frustration and that they all feel and the sense of urgency on the storm sensitive drainage areas and the need to address it.” She said it was not an issue of priorities and that the Village Managers are working behind the scenes to address the issues.

Village Manager Rob Cole said, “Staff is working in parallel on a number of different projects, one of them would be the sewer lateral inspection law that will be coming to the Village Board within approximately 30 days.” He also discussed a “flood study” to target flood relief throughout the community, as well as some local laws to deal with sensitive drainage areas.

He said the staff will work with the Village Board to vet the proposals and a work session with the full Village Board will be planned. However, he warned, “There’s almost no infrastructure project or code change that's going to preclude the types of events such as a storm like Tropical Storm Ida and some of the more intense rainstorms that cause flooding damage on Scarsdale properties.”

See more here:

Public Hearing re Signs

Also on the agenda was a hearing about a proposed new law prohibiting signs in the Village right of way. The new code would apply to all signs, regardless of content. The law simply bars all signs in the right-of-way, which is usually ten feet from the curb. If passed by the Village Board, the law would require most signs to conform to these new requirements within 60 days, with an exemption for signs that will cost more than $1,000 to relocate, providing evidence is supplied to support a waiver. There are exceptions for signs at a place of worship or a country club.

Bob Harrison asked whether or not the legislation includes an amortization schedule. Rob Cole responded that the law includes definitions of what constitutes a non-conforming sign and under what conditions they have to be brought into conformity. It specifically references the $1,000 and provides a reasonable pathway for all signs to ultimately be brought into compliance without presenting an extreme hardship for any one individual or entity to remove a sign simply because the law changed.

Read a draft of the proposed code here:

In other news, the Board approved:

-a resolution for the Scarsdale Business Alliance to hold their annual sidewalk sale from Thursday July 28 to Saturday July 30 in Scarsdale Village.

-a contract for Coach Bus Services for the Teen Travel Camp

-An administrative award for Detective James Gannon for the arrest of a suspect in a serious assault with a knife in June 2020.

-An administrative award for Detective Robaire Johnson for his work in capturing the suspect involved in the same incident, for road rage incident leading to a stabbing.