The Riverbay restaurant appears to be one step closer to closing this fall, as TD Bank was recently granted a variance on plans it has to locate on the property currently occupied by the popular Williston Park eatery.
TD Bank recently received approval from the Williston Park Zoning Board of Appeals for a drive-through window on the property at 700 Willis Ave. that was essential to its plans for a long-term lease.
But until a permit is issued to the bank clearing the way for construction, Riverbay owner Dean Poll, who also owns the property the restaurant occupies, said the matter isn’t settled
“The approval process has not been completed,” Poll said this week after confirming that the variance had been granted.
He said his own plans to close Riverbay and reopen a new incarnation of the restaurant nearby, as he said he intended to do in May, remain uncertain.
“It’s all up in the air right now,” Poll said.
Poll, who also owns the Central Park Boathouse, has said his reason for making the move “obviously is financial.”
But he said the change has nothing to do with any downturn in Riverbay’s business.
“The restaurants’s doing quite well actually,” Poll said. “[TD Bank] made an offer and it’s worthwhile to lease it to them.”
Attorney Kevin Walsh, who has represented TD Bank before the Williston Park zoning board, has said the conditional lease the bank negotiated could go into effect this fall if the variance for a drive-through lane is granted.
“Our deal is conditioned upon getting approval from the village to put the drive-through in,” Walsh said.
Walsh was unavailable to comment on the zoning board’s approval of the variance for TD Bank.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
