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PB Minutes - 11/14/06
Minutes
Meeting of the Planning Board
Village/Town of Mount Kisco
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Meeting called to order at 8:00 pm, Tuesday, November 14, 2006, at the Municipal Building Mount Kisco, New York.
Members Present: Vice Chairman Anthony Sturniolo
Stanley Bernstein
Sol Gibbons
Doug Hertz
Joseph Morreale
Ralph Vigliotti
Members Absent: Chairman Joseph Cosentino
Staff Present: Nanette Bourne
Whitney Singleton
Jannine M. McColgan
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Welcome, everyone to the November 14th regular session of the Mount Kisco Planning Board. The first item on our agenda is the minutes, and the first set of minutes is September 12, 2006.
Minutes:
September 12, 2006 Motion: Stanley Bernstein
Second: Joseph Morreale
Aye: Stanley Bernstein
Aye: Joseph Morreale
Aye: Sol Gibbons
Aye: Doug Hertz
Aye: Ralph Vigliotti
Aye: Vice Chairman Sturniolo
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: On the question and I just have one comment to make, and that is page six line 42, I believe the word should be recuse.
Stanley Bernstein: Yes, you're right it is recused.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Are there any other comments?
Doug Hertz: Mr. Chairman, page 12 line 46, I believe the blank word there is intent. And then, on page 17 line 46 after the word higher, we've got higher trees on the adjoining property is the way that should read.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Any more?
Doug Hertz: There are, I just have to get to them. I've got them noted. Sorry Mr. Chairman, I'm looking for my notes, but I don't see them. It's probably in the next set of minutes. Those are all my comments.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: If there are no other comments, there is a motion by Mr. Bernstein, seconded by Dr. Morreale.
Stanley Bernstein: Mr. Chairman, I move that we accept the minutes of September 26, 2006.
Doug Hertz: Mr. Chairman, could you give me one moment, please? I thought I made notes.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: I'm sorry.
Doug Hertz: Clearly they have disappeared, so you can go ahead.
Minutes
September 26, 2006 Motion: Stanley Bernstein
Second: Sol Gibbons
Aye: Stanley Bernstein
Aye: Sol Gibbons
Aye: Doug Hertz
Aye: Ralph Vigliotti
Aye: Vice Chairman Sturniolo
Joseph Morreale (Absent)
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Next item on the agenda is under Conceptual Applications is Panera Bread Company.
Conceptual Application:
Application No: PB2006-20
Panera Bread Company
222 Main Street
Members Present: P. Daniel Hollis, III, Shamberg Marwell Davis and Hollis
Lowell Farkas, Panera Bread
Daniel Hollis: Daniel Hollis, Shamberg Marwell Davis and Hollis, attorneys for the applicant. I am here tonight with Lowell Farkas, who is behind me from Panera, and although the submission deadline has long since past, we brought along something for you to follow when Mr. Farkas is talking that has some pictures and some presentation. Since this is only conceptual, I think it isn't harmful to have these booklets to follow along so that Mr. Farkas' presentation, although not part of the official record, it's just for ease of reference.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Excuse me, not to sound like I'm rushing you, but we're going to spend a few minutes on this conceptual application. We have a heavy, heavy duty agenda, but please go ahead.
Daniel Hollis: We represent 222 Kisco Plaza East Corporation, which is right down the street. The space in question, 5000 square feet was previously occupied by Sun Natural, which was a conglomeration of a produce store, a delicatessen, you could get hot food; you could sit there and eat your lunch. They have been out of there for a considerable period of time. Panera Bread is interested in going in. The booklet shows you what Panera views as its operational program for this site. The site is 5,000 square feet. In that shopping center there is also a 1,500 square foot, 1,600 square foot property that had been occupied by a thrift store, and the Pacific Restaurant, which is the Chinese Restaurant, has 3,500 square feet. Their lease has expired. They are a month to month tenant, and in the event that this conceptual plan and then eventual site plan is approved by this board, the owner of the property has made a commitment that there will be no restaurant going into the Pacific spot. So what does that mean in utilization? The Sun Natural area was 5,000 square feet. The Pacific Restaurant is 3,500 square feet. The area for seating at Panera Bread, which is about 16 and 1,800 square feet out of the 5,000 because there is backroom production area, and the Panera Bread, if you look at the plan, it's a combination sit down area for restaurant use and a counter for bakery and deli and take out use. The 1,600 and 1,800 square feet would be for the sit down area of 120 seats, so that the net restaurant utilization subtracting Pacific of 3,500 square feet and replacing that 3,500 in part by the 1,600 square feet of Panera would be a reduction in the restaurant square footage; seating square footage of 1,900 square feet. So we would respectfully submit that the building inspector could have made this decision on his own, he referred us to you for your input on this matter, but we feel that the Change of Use Statute that is in your ordinance requires the Planning Board to take a look at a project if there is a change in the configuration or the use of the parking. As I've set forth, the restaurant use that is Pacific would not be there, replaced in part by the Panera seating area. The other use of the other 3,500 or 3,400 square feet of the Panera use would be identical in utilization, not product, but utilization to Sun Natural. So for all of those reasons this is an approved site plan. The building is already there. We don't want to find ourselves in a situation where we have vacant stores up and down Main Street and Moger Avenue. That's certainly anyone's goal, not our client's goal, and we feel that Panera Bread would be a most positive addition to the Village in general, and to this specific area of the Village in particular. The traffic which Mr. Farkas can address. We anticipate that this Panera Bread unlike many that you find in shopping centers (there's one in Yorktown in a shopping center, there is one is Port Chester where the new movie theatre is) have parking lots. You have a situation where you have the professional offices on Smith Avenue, such as my own, and I walk to get my lunch on a daily basis. The hospital, the school and all the other businesses up and down Main Street so that the bulk of the business for this Panera Bread will be the breakfast and luncheon business, and a lot of that traffic that will be there will be pedestrian traffic and/or traffic that is for another end user, that this is not the point of destination necessarily where people will be coming to Panera Bread, but when they are at the shoemaker or across the street at one of the other stores, they would see Panera and come in. Mr. Farkas, is there anything operational that I haven't touched on?
Lowell Farkas: I think if you look at Panera's menu, etc., it reinforces it. We're a breakfast and lunch destination type place. In other words, our menu is really only conducive for a very light dinner, because we only serve soup, salads and sandwiches. There is no hot, real preparation. Our experience and the experience of Panera's is that most of the business is done before 5:00. And most of it at breakfast. We do a good size breakfast; we do a lot of catering. Anywhere from seven to ten percent of our business goes out as catering business and then lunches where the bulk of the dollars and traffic come into the store.
Daniel Hollis: Are there any questions from any of the board members?
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: What are the hours?
Lowell Farkas: We open at 6:00 in the morning and generally close at either 8 or 9 in the evening.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: And what time do the employees arrive to be ready to open at six?
Lowell Farkas: We have a staff of bakers; there is usually two bakers work through the night. The bakers come in at about 10:00 at night, they bake through the night, and the first employees; two people, come into the store about 5, 5:30 in the morning to set it up for a 6:00 opening.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: And how late do you stay open till serving soup and salad?
Lowell Farkas: 9:00.
Daniel Hollis: If you remember, before Mango there was the bagel store at the corner there, and they had the same sort of thing with bakers there through the evening. I mentioned that the thrift store at the end of the lot, we have a lease with Trustco Bank to go in there. Trustco Bank is going to have two teller sites within and an ATM. The bulk of the business they are seeking to attract there is the private banking type of business to make an impact in the community. That's what we are told is their business plan.
Lowell Farkas: I also included some pictures of the last store we opened which is the current design style. We just opened this three months ago in Fishkill, New York.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: I've been to the store in Yorktown. Huge success.
Lowell Farkas: The brand is a terrific brand.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: But I drove; I didn't walk.
Lowell Farkas: There's a thousand of them opened. But generally if you go to most of these places, our business is driven by other businesses in the area. We're not a destination place. We support the other business, that's generally how our traffic is generated.
Joseph Morreale: What kind of volume do you usually get?
Lowell Farkas: The average store in the country is about $2,000,000.
Joseph Morreale: I don't mean that, I mean people-wise.
Lowell Farkas: People-wise; we are going to do about 5,000 people a week over seven days.
Joseph Morreale: That's a lot of traffic. And there's take out?
Lowell Farkas: There is a lot of take out. Our business is probably 40-45% take-out, and then we do close to 10% in that - you see that via Panera menu, where we send stuff out; in other words we take orders from that, it's the second menu. A good deal of our business does not stay seated there.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: You mean you deliver?
Lowell Farkas: It's either we deliver or somebody comes and picks up for 30 people.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Like a drive in window, kind of thing?
Lowell Farkas: No, no, no. Somebody comes in or we have a delivery service. For a small fee we deliver, and most of it we try to deliver, it makes it easier for the customer. A lot of that is used - a big part of that are pharmaceutical reps, and we feel that with all the medical facilities in this town, that is one of the…
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: I remember reading that story in the New York Times about the pharmaceutical reps and Panera's.
Lowell Farkas: It's a terrific business. Part of satisfying the doctors' offices today is they bring lunch in, and we've turned out to be the choice of most of the medical facilities. So we think in a town like Mount Kisco we'll do very well with that part of our catering business.
Doug Hertz: May I ask, what's a smart room?
Lowell Farkas: It's just because of the tables here, where people could sit in a lounging chair so they can sit and read and be comfortable.
Daniel Hollis: It has computer capacity.
Lowell Farkas: Panera as a chain has the biggest free Wi-Fi place in the country. In other words, you go in there with your computer and you can sign right on, there is no charge for it.
Joseph Morreale: Sounds like Starbucks.
Lowell Farkas: Starbucks charged for it. They are just now starting to get around where some of them are giving it free. We give it away free. It's really a part of your system that you use for credit cards. You do it on a T-1, and that band line is in the store anyway, so you're charging for it and you're still not beating up the customer.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: So in one hand you say you are trying to attract customers that are locally shopping in the area. You used the example of the shoe repair shop across the street. Am I correct?
Daniel Hollis: I did.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Oh, I'm sorry. But now you're talking Wi-Fi. Does everybody walk around with a laptop to get their shoes repaired? I'm trying to figure out where the connection is.
Lowell Farkas: There is a certain amount of the population today, especially in the hours of 9 to 11 and 2 to 5 that are salesmen, students, and they -
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: E-mail time.
Lowell Farkas: They are looking for a time to clean up and put their orders in, etc. Panera's has turned out to be the spot that they go to. It gives them that office away from home.
Stanley Bernstein: Mr. Chairman, I have a question. Do you have a counter similar to a diner's counter, where you can have breakfast, order eggs and things of that nature?
Lowell Farkas: No, no.
Stanley Bernstein: In other words you just make, using your bread, you make sandwiches -
Lowell Farkas: Sandwiches and salads and bagels.
Stanley Bernstein: And vegetables.
Lowell Farkas: We do a baked soufflé. That's an egg item here that goes up on the front.
Stanley Bernstein: That's all done in the back.
Lowell Farkas: There's no open cooking. There's no open flame.
Stanley Bernstein: You don't need an open flame; all you need is a grill or a griddle.
Lowell Farkas: The only thing we have is a Panini type machine. That would be the only surface cooking.
Stanley Bernstein: I understand. So fresh eggs are not part of the operation? Okay. Thank you.
Ralph Vigliotti: Question for Dan - the Pacific Restaurant, you're using a portion of it?
Daniel Hollis: No, we're not using any part of Pacific, I just said…
Ralph Vigliotti: So, what is to become - how many square feet would be remaining from the Pacific site?
Daniel Hollis: Pacific Restaurant is a 3,500 square feet site. None of that is for Panera. But, what we're saying is if Panera were to be approved, our client, the owner of the property, would agree not to have another restaurant in the Pacific site so there wouldn't be a duplication of restaurant use. What I've been saying is that the restaurant use for Pacific would be transferred in smaller part to the Panera site.
Ralph Vigliotti: Just a quick question to you, sir. All of the restaurants you have outlined, do they all close at 9 pm or do some close earlier?
Lowell Farkas: Generally, well, of all the ones that I have - 9:00. When you get into the deep winter, we do look at some of them at 8:00, but generally 9:00 is the latest.
Ralph Vigliotti: I am just looking at the 5-9 pm, which is the dinner hour, and we know that that section of town is heavily trafficked with dinner goers, and trying to regulate any of the other restaurants; we're not going to regulate this. If it was 8:00 it would really mean that there would be less traffic going into the parking lots because people would be going there as a full dinner destination. They may go for something light, 5, 6:00, where the other restaurants aren't in full motion at that point. So that's why I'm questioning the 9 pm closure.
Lowell Farkas: Generally our last hour of business probably does about $100 in sales. It's the slowest of any of our traffic business. Really what happens there at that time they are also cleaning up and getting out of there, because generally the staff is out by 9:30, 9:45. They're gone. So it's sort of a closing up hour.
Ralph Vigliotti: And there isn't any liquor?
Lowell Farkas: No liquor, we are not a Cosi's. And by the way, there are 1,000 stores nationwide today. The chain has had incredible success, and tremendous trust from its guests.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Dan, would you repeat the last part about Panera's is occupying what square footage and what site and what your client agreed not to -
Daniel Hollis: Sure. Panera Bread is going to be taking the entire 5,000 square feet that was the Sun Natural. The 3,500 square feet that is Pacific Restaurant would not be leased as a restaurant by our client if Panera were to be approved.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: A question going back to the 5,000 patrons a week that you anticipate.
Joseph Morreale: 8,000.
Lowell Farkas: No, five.
Joseph Morreale: You said five? I thought you said eight.
Lowell Farkas: No, five.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: The 5,000 patrons that Panera's would anticipate having if they were to occupy the site of the Sun Natural. How many patrons would you guess Sun Natural had a week? On the scale?
Daniel Hollis: At the beginning or at the end? At the end not so many.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: At the beginning. At it's best.
Daniel Hollis: That would be impossible - it would be a pure guess on my part, but I think what's important, if I had to bet, I bet it would be as many or more. Because people went in there not as a point of destination to stop and eat. For the most part, people went in there to buy fresh produce and to buy the macaroni and the tuna and the sushi and what they had in the counter. So I would hazard to guess that you probably had that number of people, the same number of people using it, perhaps concentrated at different times of the day. Because the utilization was more varied, because you went there maybe for a sandwich, but you might have gone there just for milk or for produce or for canned goods. They had all of it; flowers, fresh flowers; so I'd be guessing, Mr. Chairman, if I said a number. But if I were to guess it would be the same or greater based upon the variety of uses.
Lowell Farkas: If I also can support, the Pacifica Restaurant is also going out. And their traffic was more skewed I would assume towards the evening.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: How many people did they have a week, a dozen?
Lowell Farkas: I'm not familiar with it. Somehow they must have been paying their rent, so I don't know.
Daniel Hollis: As I said, they are on a month-to-month, so it's not that you have - the commitment that I made about not renting that for a restaurant, that's not something three to five years down the line, that's something that could be imminent.
Joseph Morreale: The reason I asked about volume is that I am trying to figure out where 5,000 a week are going to park.
Lowell Farkas: Oh, we think a good deal of our business is walk-in business. We think the hospital is going to be a big part of our business, we think that the traffic along Main Street, and shoppers - a big part of our business. We think there is enough local traffic there that we'd probably do a good deal of it with just…
Stanley Bernstein: Mr. Chairman, question on that subject. Oh, are you finished, Doc?
Joseph Morreale: Well, I was waiting to hear the rest of the answer.
Lowell Farkas: Yes, we believe a good deal of our traffic is walk-in traffic, and we've done a survey on that store, we've had Panera's do a survey on that store, we are always concerned that there is going to be enough to support what we're doing.
Joseph Morreale: Then let me just ask this, what percentage is walk in?
Lowell Farkas: I would clearly guess that walk-in is probably close to 50% of the business, if not more.
Daniel Hollis: For this site.
Joseph Morreale: Okay.
Stanley Bernstein: How often have you stood on the corner and counted the people walking?
Lowell Farkas: I haven't personally done that, we've spent some time there.
Stanley Bernstein: Maybe you'll see ten or fifteen.
Lowell Farkas: Well, if you have people who are drawn there…
Stanley Bernstein: People in the hospital are not going to walk that distance. People today are lazy. The people in the hospital are getting in their cars and they're driving over there, and the people in the shoe store may walk across the street, but it's unlikely, and to have droves and droves of people like 5th Avenue and 52nd Street, you're not going to get that. I never see that many people walking in Mount Kisco on Main Street.
Daniel Hollis: I beg to differ, Mr. Bernstein, with all due respect. I happen to walk twice a day, every day.
Stanley Bernstein: I walk a lot also.
Daniel Hollis: And I walk to my dinner, and I see the same people walking everyday, doing the same thing. Walking to get their lunch.
Stanley Bernstein: Ten of them?
Daniel Hollis: There's a lot more than ten. And if you want to join me some afternoon, we'll walk together, and you'll count a lot more than ten.
Stanley Bernstein: We'll hobble together.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Any other questions?
Daniel Hollis: Where would you like to see us take this, Mr. Chairman?
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: The purpose of a conceptual review is to allow the Planning Board to give you feedback before the applicant goes ahead and commits dollars into hard drawings and engineering studies and all that. So I'd like to start off with my feelings about the conceptual, and then I'll ask everybody else to join in. I spent a considerable amount of time reviewing Dan's letters and Austin's letters back and forth, and I totally understand where the building inspector had made the reference back to the Planning Board. One of the things that this Planning Board is charged with is the health, safety and welfare of the Village of Mount Kisco. The Panera's Restaurant I think is going to generate far more car traffic than you ever, ever, ever imagined. I totally agree with my colleague. I don't see this as people walking from the hospital or walking from here and walking from there. I think parking, the 56 or 58 spaces that are there, I am not even 100% sure they are code compliant at this point, but parking is extremely tight in there, egress and ingress are very difficult. As you know, you can't be in that parking lot, come out and make a left-hand turn. I think we are inviting the potential for grave traffic problems if Panera's were in that location. Panera's is a hugely successful restaurant with a high quality product, but this is not an appropriate location for that restaurant because of parking, ingress and egress and the health, safety and welfare of the Village of Mount Kisco is what I am concerned with personally, and that is what this Planning Board is charged with. I think putting a Panera's there flies directly into the face of the safety issues of Mount Kisco. It's too big and too popular a restaurant for that location. The intersection I talked to you about is difficult at best to get out of there, and something as popular as this will only just exacerbate that issue of trying to get in and out of the parking lot in back of it. Anyway, that's my feelings and I need to ask my fellow Planning Board members for input. Doug?
Doug Hertz: Yes. It seems like a great business. You've done a very nice presentation. My concern is the same line, which is the limited number of parking spaces and a possibility for a hugely successful car traffic getting in and out of there. 5,000 trips; and I concur that I think the bulk of them will be via car and not walking trips. This is going to present a real difference then of 3,500 square foot restaurant that is not terribly successful that's not - particularly during rush hour and lunchtime generating a tremendous amount of traffic.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Stan?
Stanley Bernstein: I said all I have to say about it. The walking and the driving are a problem. I've made my point.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Okay. Ralph?
Ralph Vigliotti: At this point, I don't have a comment, and that's pretty rare for me. If two restaurants that are there, one replacing two that were successful at some point in time, I'm not sure if this will take place of those two as far as traffic generation and parking. My gut is it probably, certainly will increase. The menu has nothing to do with the planning process, but I think it's very favorable that the people of Mount Kisco can get something to eat at a fair and reasonable price, but parking is something is of concern, but not quite as high a concern that I had earlier on.
Joseph Morreale: Since I raised the issue, I do have a concern, and I think you will get more than 50% car traffic from it. I think it's a wonderful idea, I think it would be successful, frankly I could picture it much better on Moger Avenue because of the huge parking lot across the street.
Daniel Hollis: Well, when you can get Mr. Friedland to rent the spaces at a reasonable rate then you give us a ring.
Joseph Morreale: Can I finish?
Daniel Hollis: Yes, I'm sorry.
Joseph Morreale: So I think we're going to have to look long and hard to see the impact of this whole thing on the traffic flow. Because the traffic flow right through that corridor is terrible. We are already seeing how it backs up from light to light to light, and this I think would only exacerbate it. That's my point. But I love the idea; I have to tell you, it's a great idea.
Sol Gibbons: I do too. Panera's is a hugely successful enterprise, but I think it's going to generate a lot of business, and that is a bad area for parking and for traffic, and I'm concerned about it.
Daniel Hollis: May I go back to the traffic, if I may?
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Dan, would you like to have some closing comments?
Daniel Hollis: Sure. The traffic, if you think about it, what we've said, the heavy hours are breakfast and lunch. And I think that we can manage the traffic there at breakfast and lunch, because neither Mango nor any of the other uses are busy at breakfast and lunch to the extent that they're busy late in the day; whether it's the lacrosse store, the tanning salon, no one tans at 8 in the morning, I don't think. So I think that we can alleviate your concern. A lot of the parking that's in our parking lot there is overflow from other places. And if this were to be approved would undertake to insure the integrity of that parking lot, so that it would be used only for the tenants. There is a way that we can do that, and our client is agreeable and is exploring that way to make sure that his parking lot is used for his tenants and not for everyone else for free. So I think if you gave this a chance, because it is a good use, I don't think what the board is saying, because this board is far too knowledgeable and considerate to say come back to us when you can bring us unsuccessful potential occupiers. I don't think that's what we want. We don't want to bring unsuccessful people that will have no traffic, because then I'll be back month after month after month with a string of exceedingly less successful applicants. So, if we can show you with a traffic study and a more detailed analysis as the utilization at breakfast and lunch, would that help to alleviate the concerns you have about traffic? I don't want to spend the client's money unnecessarily.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Like I said, the purpose of the conceptual review, like we're going through, is so you get a sense of where the Planning Board is coming from before you start to open your wallet and spend dollars.
Lowell Farkas: Would it be appropriate for me to make a suggestion?
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Sure, you can make a closing statement.
Lowell Farkas: We have a store that I have pictures of in Fishkill, New York. The Fishkill store is supported 100% by drive in traffic. It's got one entrance, well it's got one entrance and exit on one side and one on the other side, there's us, there's a Verizon store, there's a Starbucks, there's a whole bunch of things there.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: It's double what you have right now.
Lowell Farkas: No, we have less parking in that location that would be dedicated to us than we would have in this current one. And what I would suggest, if the board would entertain, and I'd take a look and try to develop something that can be certified, the number of parking spaces there and the traffic we get there, which is going to be about the same business we're going to do there, and come back and demonstrate the number of cars that we support by the hour over a period of time. That may help you, or help me understand, that maybe it is the wrong place for me, or help me to understand that as we believe that there's more than sufficient parking spaces to support the business, especially what we think our walk-in traffic is going to be there.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: To answer your question, I personally believe this is the wrong place for you. If you want to go through the time and expense of submitting a formal application, there is nothing to prevent you from doing that; the Planning Board is here. But this is our feedback on the conceptual.
Lowell Farkas: We'd like to respond, possibly to the parking issue and try to show you what it is.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Whatever you choose to do.
Daniel Hollis: As part of the conceptual, can we come back just for that traffic component to you?
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: I think no. And I'll tell you why. Because we keep taking a conceptual application and it gets drawn out and drawn out and drawn out. It's either you come back with a formal application when you feel comfortable that you have your parking information, and let's go from there. But I don't see any need to segment the Conceptual Application process with traffic or with something else.
Daniel Hollis: The only concern really is the traffic, though, isn't it?'
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: I don't want to start to segment this into many multiple versions of this conceptual meeting. If you want to do a formal application it's your privilege. Thank you.
Lowell Farkas: Thank you.
Formal Application:
Application No: PB2006-22
Lawrence Guida
Apple Antiques
342 Lexington Avenue
Members Present: Lawrence Guida
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Next item on the agenda is a formal application, Apple Antiques, 342 Lexington Avenue.
Lawrence Guida: My name is Lawrence Guida. I am the owner of Apple Antiques, 342 Lexington Avenue. I have been in business in Mount Kisco for about 27 years on Lexington Avenue, and from day one I have had furniture outside, plenty of people know me, we put pumpkin carts and chairs and other accessories outside. I've been in front of the Town Board before from a different location and been approved for being allowed to put furniture outside, and I moved to 342 Lexington, which is a larger store, and there is a deck in front of the store. It's not walked by at all or walked on, and that's what we're being allowed to do, to continue to put out furniture.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: You are looking for an amendment to your site plan that would permit the outdoor displays.
Lawrence Guida: I thought I had one. I didn't realize it. I've been doing it all along.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: But somebody came along with a camera.
Lawrence Guida: Absolutely.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Whitney, I have a question. Is the formal application in proper form, where the site plan subdivision approval and handwritten minor site plan amendment for an outdoor display?
Whitney Singleton: Well, I'm a little perplexed by the - the hand-drawn.
Lawrence Guida: Well, if you don't like it, I'm saying I didn't do it. If you like it, I did it.
Whitney Singleton: With regard to a lot of the application information, Tony, yes, a lot of it is non-applicable because he is not proposing to change any of the site plan elements or any of the building elements, there is just the outdoor display area. The question is, not to turn it around on you; the question is more for your board whether or not you have adequate information before you to make a reasonable determination. Is there enough specificity or detail? I don't mean to interrupt - from a long time ago I believed there was another approval. What happened on the other approval?
Lawrence Guida: I don't know. The building inspector has been coming by, and I've been getting letters.
Whitney Singleton: Didn't I recall, maybe a decade ago, you came before this board for permission to display.
Lawrence Guida: Exactly. Good memory.
Whitney Singleton: And you were approved?
Lawrence Guida: But it was for 326 Lexington. Now it's an auto building.
Whitney Singleton: 326. As long as - could I back up a little bit?
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Sure.
Whitney Singleton: One of the other concerns from my perspective legally is I noticed some of the outdoor display area is not only in the front but on the side, chained down. To the extent that the display area might be granted by your board, I would certainly want to make sure that that would not be putting this furniture and whatever else in the public driveway. And it's hard for me to ascertain what the public driveway is.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: From this drawing?
Lawrence Guida: On the side - I'll remove all of that. I've actually been ill for the last few months; I haven't been able to remove anything.
Vice Chairman Sturniolo: Could you get somebody to professionally draw this up so we can see where the public right of way is in relationship to where you would like to continue in your outdoor display and verify it? And then we would have it in the record that yes, here is the public right of way, and you're over here.
Lawrence Guida: Sure. Just the front of the building?