Ralph’s Italian Ices is hoping the Williston Park zoning board of appeals will warm up to the oversized mural painted on the wall of its new location at 127 Hillside Avenue.
Ronnie Soccorso, Ralph’s Ices owner, conceived and sketched a version of the mural when he was planning to relocate his business from another location on Hillside last year. He said he gave the sketch to his attorney and presumed it wouldn’t be a problem when the board gave the business the okay to move in.
“I assumed everything was fine,” said Soccorso, who made an a permit application to the board to put an awning in front of the store.
“When we got the approval for the awning, I thought that covered everything,” he said.
But a few months ago, the Williston Park building department served the business with a notice of violation because the mural, which depicts animated colored ices around the name of the store, exceeded the size village code allows for store signs.
The sign on the side wall can’t exceed 50 percent of the size permitted for a sign on the front of the building, according to Kerry Collins, Williston Park building inspector. Since the storefront is approximately nine feet wide, the mural can’t be more than four feet wide, according to the village code. Front signage can fill 90 percent of the width of a store front.
The Ralph’s Ices mural exceeds the allowable limits in height and width, Collins said. The zoning board held a hearing about it at its June meeting, but made no determination on Soccorso’s application for a variance at the time. The sign will be on the agenda when the board meets again on July 11.
“I haven’t heard anyone complain about it. They all love it. I don’t understand why they have a problem with it,” Soccorso said.
Soccorso said he paid an artist $2,500 to paint the mural and thinks it’s an improvement on the drab wall it dressed up in the municipal parking lot it faces. He’s hoping for an amicable solution with the board, and plans to paint over it if the board decides it must be downsized.
“I didn’t intend to attract negative attention,” Soccorso said. “I just wanted to brighten things up.”
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204
