Buyer interested in making Hampshire a public club

Former Hampshire Country Club Superintendent Tony Campanella reported tonight that he has been working closely with a potential buyer who would like to operate the club as a public golf course.

Campanella appeared before the Village of Mamaroneck Board of Trustees to seek advice on how to proceed in ensuring that the club could be operated as a public institution, as he believed it is zoned as a private golf club.

Village Manager Richard Slingerland noted that the property is zoned an R-20 district, which allows for half-acre or 20,000 square foot lots.

It is important that the zoning issue be cleared up quickly if the potential buyer is going to act, said Campanella. "It can't wait until July and have the grass grow three feet tall because then it's not a golf course anymore and he just won't do it." Campanella indicated the buyer may act as quickly as next month.

Campanella expressed concern that if the property isn't maintained as a golf course, there will be problematic environmental impacts. "I don't think anyone wants the place to turn into a swamp, and that's what it'll turn into," he said. He explained that the property has to be maintained and drained manually and that since the club let all its employees go on Dec. 18, he has "been going there and manning the pumps and checking the screens and doing everything I can to keep the place recognizable.

Mayor Norman Rosenblum explained that the Village of Mamaroneck along with the Town of Mamaroneck is exploring the possibility of purchasing the club. "We are doing our due diligence as to how we will move forward and in what manner."

"If the town or village is interested in the property, I've been there 10 years. I've put my heart and soul into it," said Campanella. "It's a very unique property that if there are any questions that the village would have in terms of the land, the topography, the challenges that Hampshire faces as a piece of land, I'd be a resource there."