VOL Opens Hearing on Public Dining; Hears Flint Park Concerns

Also: Appreciation & Clarification on New Year's Fire

by Judy Silberstein

(January 9, 2008) Larchmont’s business district – beautiful and otherwise – continued to receive attention from the Village Board on Monday, January 7, the first public meeting of the new year. The board opened a public hearing on proposed modifications to its outdoor dining law aimed at curbing encroachment onto the sidewalks by some restaurants and their patrons. The board also heard from neighbors of Flint Park, who raised questions about the ongoing construction of the fields and environmental area.

Balmy January weather allowed for sidewalk meals to be served along Larchmont Avenue this week. In the summer, much of the block is lined with tables, and there are additional easels.

Sidewalk Dining:
More Laws or More Enforcement?

As yet, the board has not settled on actual language for a new ordinance, so the discussion focused more on concept than details. “The vast number of restaurants contribute positively to the ambiance,” said Trustee Richard Ward, who has been assessing the existing rules, but “there have been cases when the permitted use of the street has been abused.” Many restaurant owners do not seem to have read the law, he said, citing for example the use of plastic furniture, which is expressly prohibited. Others are using far more space on the sidewalk than is allowed.

On a more positive note, Mayor Feld reported that she and Police Chief Steve Rubeo had met successfully with restaurant owners following the last board meeting, in which residents had raised noise complaints. (See:VOL Looking to Tame Restaurant Noise & Sidewalk Dining. )

Other board members felt enforcement – and the lack of self-enforcement – are significant issues. If one establishment oversteps the bounds without consequences, others feel “Why shouldn’t we too,” said Mr. Ward.

He suggested the following areas for possible change: considering an applicant’s previous conduct when it is time to approve a new permit for outdoor dining; having the police department rather than the building department responsible for enforcement; and adding fines for infractions.

Trustee Marlene Kolbert stressed having provisions that were enforceable – and did not focus on overly technical issues, such as the exact number of inches between the curb and the furniture. She said many complaints to the board are about noise, which is not even addressed in the current law.

Trustee Anne McAndrews noted “several of these establishments have become places to congregate.” The problem has more to do with late-night drinking than with sidewalk dining, she suggested.

Asked for her advice, Larchmont’s assistant attorney, Joanna Feldman, said the board should distinguish between behavior of people eating outside and noise made by people leaving the establishment late at night – talking loudly and slamming car doors, for example.

Ms. McAndrews raised two other issues not currently covered: barriers around outdoor tables and signs attached to the barriers. The Board of Architectural Review, which regulates business signage on buildings, appears not to have control of barrier signs, she said.

Mayor Feld raised the related problem of easels and sandwich boards in the middle of sidewalks. “Quite frankly, it’s tacky,” she said.

“People want the outdoor dining – and don’t want a police state,” summarized Mayor Feld. “It’s a balance.”

The board will continue the discussion and the public hearing at its next meeting, on January 28, when it anticipates having draft language for the revised ordinance.

Neighbors Concerned About New Poles & New Paths at Flint Park

With construction underway at Flint Park, residents on adjoining streets have been startled by the size of poles and netting erected at the baseball field behind their homes. They were also surprised to find new walking paths being constructed only a few feet from their back yards.

Vicky and Zach Stein, residents of Old Colony Drive, presented the board with a letter of concern signed by neighbors from 15 adjacent properties.

Workers renovating the baseball field at Flint Park are dwarfed by the long poles and black netting erected behind shorter backstops to prevent balls from escaping into thenearby environmental area.

“Many of the residents have lived in this area for over 20 years,” read the letter, “and few of us have ever had a problem with the lively soccer or baseball games that go on in the field behind our homes. Now with the erection of very high poles and its attached black netting, the park has created an unnecessary eyesore.” Other concerns included increased traffic and parking along their narrow streets.

Mayor Feld and Trustee Jim Millstein were able to allay some fears and answer a number of questions: Yes, there would there be plantings to screen neighboring yards. No, there would not be night lights at the ball fields (the inter-municipal agreement with Town of Mamaroneck excludes them). Yes, there had been requisite environmental studies, and because of newly raised concerns the board is talking about “going to another level” of study, said the mayor. No, there would not be a new entrance into the park from the dead end at Lindsey Road. And yes, the paths were accessible to the handicapped.

As for the poles and nets, they had been an “add alternate” in the approved plan and had been recommended by the Little League to protect visitors to the new environmental area, which until recently served as a leaf composting area off-limits to the public. Yes, they can be removed, said the mayor.

“We all agree they are unsightly,” said Mayor Feld, but she counseled waiting to see how the view shapes up once new landscaping and other elements are in place.

Because many of the residents signing the letter had not participated in (or been aware) of the many planning meetings and discussions on the park’s development, the mayor suggested the board meet with them this week to answer remaining questions.

Two diggers: machine and man. A giant mound of dirt has appeared and trees have been cleared in the construction of a new artificial turf field at Flint Park.

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