Frequently Asked Questions by Residents

Last Updated 2009.07.27

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Farmer’s Market Opened - Sat, May 30th, 7:00am to 1:00pm, Memorial Plaza

Q: Do you know you can watch Board Meetings, School Meetings, and a number of other events live and recorded?
A: They are available via the PCTV76 website.

Q: What's going on with the run-down home at 55 Pleasant Avenue?
A: The County is considering donating the above dilapidated home for rehabilitation for middle class housing as managed by A-Home, a non-profit. The house would include an accessory apartment as well. This is allowed under Village Zoning ordinances (section 185-31). Currently, it's not on Village tax rolls and is an eye sore. So, this could be a win-win situation. There has been some local neighborhood negative feedback due to flood control and house size issues. This project is still in the planning phase.

Q: What is the status with Verizon FiOS TV service?
A: The board has been negotiating with Verizon almost on a daily basis as reported by the Mayor, and has requested the same deal offered to neighboring municipalities. Verizon has been extremely slow to respond. The Village TV station and other services are based on the tv fees, so it's important they are not cut. Once Verizon offers a "fair" amount, they will be welcomed into the community. Keep in mind, Verizon FiOS internet costs more than Cablevision's so I'm not sure it'll reduce everyone's cable costs.

Q: What is the status of the Church Street sidewalks?
A: At the Mon 5/18 board meeting, the board has hired a traffic engineering company (Adler) to look into the feasibility of sidewalks on Chruch Street. At the end of June 09, Adler should have their initial report ready. Board had been looking into what options exists from a traditional sidewalk to path.

Q: How can I ask a question?
A: Send an email to Ben Serebin. My email address is: ben "the @ symbol" serebin "dot" com.
Showing posts with label business moratorium forumla business zoning franchises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business moratorium forumla business zoning franchises. Show all posts

Friday, February 1, 2008

Business Moratorium for A1 & A2 Announced (business center near train station & old village center)

The Village Board of Trustees held a public hearing on January 28, 2008 at 8:30PM prevailing time, to accept comments on a proposed moratorium affecting the A1 and A2 business districts.

Moratorium is available from the Pleasantville Village Website
http://www.pleasantville-ny.gov/Home/I012995C6

I'm not concerned with eliminating national franchises in Pleasantville (since this would eliminate the majority of banks). A better approach is restricting "formula businesses". To simplify the explanation of this, it means that each business would need to be to a certain digress unique and could not be cookie cutter like, e.g. same signage, tables, lighting, menus, etc. This has been used in many places. I've linked to the City of Portland which has a formula business ordinance, a CA appeals court upholding a "formula retail ordinance", and a Zoning Newsletter documenting additional ordinances & terminology as well. So, we know it works.

Formula Business Ordinance - City of Portland, ME

California Court of Appeal Ruling in favor of Formula Retail Ordinance

Zoning Newsletter about Formula Business Ordinance (in PDF) - Stephen Svete, AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners)
http://www.nh.gov/oep/resourcelibrary/referencelibrary/f/formulabusinessregulation/documents/zoningnewsmarch03.pdf

Tell your elected trustees, mayor, and your friends and neighbors to "vote" for the formula business ordinance plan.

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Village Meeting - Update from January 14, 2008

Here are my updates from the village meeting. The landlord (part of a real estate company called Fred Strauss Inc[?]) and 2 others representatives of his were in attendance. Just so it's clear, Dunkin Donuts was approved for the building permit and inside work due to a rules that allows bakeries/deli with less than 8 seats. Exterior signage has NOT been approved. It was denied the 1st time around by the Architecture Review Board.

There were 2 attendees that spoke that were not in favor of Dunkin Donuts in it's current location. I spoke first during the open comment period and provided the board and village clerk and administrator a copy of the URL links I sent earlier regarding formula business ordinances and the solid legal ground they stand on. I explained to the board my concerns in 4 points. Just so it's clear, I'm not against Dunkin Donuts, but I do not think it's a wise location for the village due to the following reasons below. The other attendee raised concerns about how this would change the image of Pleasantville.

4 Points Against Dunkin Donuts (at that corner space across from Jacob Burns)
- increased illegal vehicular traffic along Manville (in light of the extensive traffic study that was completed and didn't address this)
- pedestrian crossing safety due to the illegal standing/parking on Manville
- loss of public parking and the financial benefit to a single private entity
- signage out of the norm for Washington (2 brightly internally illuminated signage - 1 on Manville & 1 on Washington)

Landlord and company presented during the work session (not televised)
- a # of rear access plans that could make the building prettier were presented.
- these would provide easy rear access to Dunkin Donuts, and additional businesses (e.g. Bookstore) for the landlord. Landlord asked for a partnership as expressed by a financial partnership with the village. This would result in a loss of public parking spaces and generate more vehicle traffic from the lot (if you've seen the other Dunkin Donuts, you'll know what I'm talking about). Additional, the traffic light is controlled by the state, so any change would need to be approved by them.
- the Dunkin Donuts shop will be the 2nd one for the franchisee owner in Pleasantville.

Clarifications from last night - New Business Moratorium In Place
- the new business approval moratorium as explained by Michael Testa today is for all businesses in A1 and A2 business central zones. Not just those identified last night. A1 is Pleasantville center, and A2 is the old village center. Also, since this moratorium was made public, all applications going forward except for open applications (e.g. Dunkin Donuts) will be rejected except on a case by case basis by the board.

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The Dunkin Donuts Corner (SPECIAL FEATURE) - Updated Last 2008.10.07

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Regular Announcements Below This - Scroll Down
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Tue 10/7 Update
Last week, Dunkin Donuts decided to hang up a traditional Dunkin Donuts sign violating the Signage Ordinance and the Architecture Review Board's agreement with the Donuts Donuts franchise owner, TBG. Numerous complaints were lodged with Village Hall and they demanded TBG immediately remove the illegal sign which they promptly did. TBG complained that the wood curved sign was taking too long, hence they broke the rules to advertise Dunkin Donuts.

Wed 9/10 Update
On Monday, 9/8 the Pleasantville Board of Trustees announced the following proposed amendments to the introductory local law 2008-181 which to summarize the major points improves upon the definition of what a restaurant is, prohibits drive-throughs for non-bank establishments, adds a new formula fast food establishment definition and restricts their establishment, and clarifies and restricts 1st floor permitted uses for professional services (e.g. legal services, architectural, brokerage firms, accounting, etc) in the central business districts. Public comment is open now. You can read the original document on the Village's website. Next public comment meeting is on the agenda for the Mon, October 27th meeting. Please provide feedback to the trustees and village administrator before then as well.

- Ben Serebin, Pleasantville Resident
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Hello Everyone,

The vast majority of the people I speak with are upset to hear about the planned Dunkin Donuts across from the Jacob Burns (2nd Dunkin Donuts in Pleasantville), so I realized it would be good if I had a special section dedicated to it. I'll update this area with Dunkin Donuts related issues which includes the business moratorium and ordinance changes.

This issue was caused by a ruling by the Pleasantville Building Inspector (Mike Testa) on 11/28/07 due to the lack of definition of the current zoning for a bakery (section 185:11, no definition of bakery), simplistic definition of a fast food restaurant (more than 8 seats with ready to consume food), "one hundred feet of the intersection" of any business street as per section 185-22 section 12 (a) [4], and "lack of applying the interpretation or conflict of the zoning and ordinances, the more restrictive language should apply" (section 185-59 section B). His consultation of a dictionary for defining what a bakery is should have been targeted to the board of trustees for clarification especially since most people would probably classify Dunkin Donuts as fast food (since the company labels it as such and so does the franchise owner). In essence, the application was a technique of a wolf in sheep's clothes. Challenges via a Zoning Board Appeal in section 185-55 or an article 78 to applications are required within 30 days, which was not available to me since I became aware of this after that period.

There is a solution that we can promote to prevent uncontrolled increases of fast food businesses and franchises in Pleasantville, and it's called Business Formula Ordinances (BFOs). To summarize the explanation of this, it means that each business would need to be to a certain degree unique and could not be cookie cutter like, e.g. same trademark, signage, tables, lighting, menus, uniforms, etc. The BFOs can be as restrictive (e.g. no businesses sharing trademarks, menus, signage, etc) or accommodating as desired (e.g. capping the # in an area or entire business district, such as up to 5 business allowed in the village sharing trademarks, menus, signage, etc). Traffic safety should also play a role in approving businesses in Pleasantville.

Read the following PDFs or websites just by clicking the links:
Original Building Permit Application filed by T.B.G. Food Acquisition Corp (aka Dunkin Donuts owner Manhattan based private equity firm The Beekman Group L.L.C.) on November 25, 2007. There are mistakes on the application and the identity of the signature of the owner is unknown even to Mike Testa (building inspector).

Background on The Beekman Group Private Equity Firm and TBG as per Westchester County Business Journal interview with John Troiano and Peter Marrinan. Peter has attended at least one Pleasantville meeting. Or read it on the Westchester County Business Journal website.

The Examiner Article of March 10, 2008 announcing the Pleasantville Downtown Business Moratorium and "know your Neighbor" highlight of Ben Serebin.

The New York Times Article on May 25, 2008 "Punching a Hole in Paradise" about the planned Dunkin Donuts and use of Formula Businesses. Interview with Mayor Bernard Gordon and Pleasantville Resident Ben Serebin. Or read it on the NY Times website.

Pleasantville Zoning Map of Business Districts (A1 & A2) Affected by Business Moratorium.

[Provided to Pleasantville Board of Trustees during May 19, 2008 meeting & Westchester County Legislator John Nonna who was present]
List of some Municipalities that have Implemented Formula Business Ordinances (e.g. Port Jefferson NY, Fairfield CT, Bristol RI, Chesapeake City MD, Nantucket MA, Portland ME, Ogunquit ME, Coronado CA, Pacific Grove CA, San Francisco CA, Sanibel FL, Sauslito CA, & York ME to name a few.

Formula Business Ordinance upheld by California Court of Appeals

[Provided to Pleasantville Board of Trustees during May 19, 2008 meeting & Westchester County Legislator John Nonna who was present]
Port Jefferson, NY (on Long Island) Business Formula Ordinance (BFO) Code (I've provided the exact sections that discuss the BFO.)

City of Portland, ME's BFO Code. This is a good example like the Port Jefferson, NY code.

Pleasantville, NY Local Law code for Signage as of Jan 2008

Dunkin Donuts Website Press Release announcing that Dunkin Donuts received the award of "Best Fast-Food Coffee" - maybe they are a fast food franchise company?

-Ben Serebin, Pleasantville Resident
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