WP trustees get willies, say no to outdoor dining

Richard Tedesco

The Village of Williston Park trustees voted unanimously on Monday night to deny the application of Willy Parkers restaurant on Hillside Avenue to establish an outdoor dining area in the rear of the local eatery.

Concerns for the impact on residents near the proposed outdoor cafe trumped the potential appeal of what would have been the village’s first outdoor dining venue. 

A formal draft of the decision, to be prepared by village attorney James Bradley, will be presented for the village board’s approval at its June 4 meeting.

The trustees vote supported the objections of Sheridan Avenue residents, who expressed misgivings about the outdoor venue at a public hearing on May 8 because of its proximity to their homes.

The outdoor dining area would have had restricted dining hours, according to Willy Parkers co-owners Reno and Louis DiMaria, who proposed erecting a 12-foot wall to close off the 30-foot-wide dining area from its neighbors. The wall would have included sound-proofing material to muffle recorded music and the conversations of up to 50 diners. 

But residents didn’t accept their assurance, and neither did the village trustees, who took the vote at Monday night’s meeting without comment on the special-use application.

“The basis of it was the impact on the neighbors,” said Williston Park Trustee Michael Uttaro, explaining why he offered the motion to reject the application.

Uttaro said the board members also had concerns about the village code, which explicitly prohibits outdoor dining venues.

“There were concerns about many factors in the application,” said Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar. “They were looking for directions from the board with regard to the expansion and the outdoor dining. The feeling was they didn’t come to us with enough of a plan.”

At various points in the May 8 hearing, the DiMarias offered to alter the height of the wall and make accommodations on the lighting planned for the dining area.

But Ruth Ann Morrisey said her children are regularly disturbed while sleeping by noise from the restaurant’s exhaust fan and patrons leaving the bar at late hours.

“It’s 30 feet from my kids’ pillow,” Morrisey said of the fan. “My children should not be subject to cursing and adult behavior.”

Bob Mitchell, president of the Williston Park Civic Association, commended the board for showing “the political courage to vote against these guys.”

An emotional Morrisey thanked the board for its decision on behalf of her family. 

“My main concern was the main impact it would have on the village,” Ehrbar said. “My feeling was the impact on the village outweighs the approval to give it to them.”

Louis DiMaria said he and his brother are determined to take steps to appeal the board’s decision

“I’m not just going to give up on it. It’s absurd they would say no to this with the state of the economy,” DiMaria said. “The pros clearly outweigh the cons here and I think the decision was made here without any sort of justification. I don’t think anything brought up by the neighbors was justified at all.”

In other developments:

• Ehrbar and Keith Bunnell, superintendent of the village department of public works outlined changes in the village’s plans for garbage pick-up. 

The essential change, Ehrbar said is that “Heavy pick-up will no longer be on Wednesday.” 

Bunnell said Wedneday will now be recycling day, with paper and glass recyclables to be picked up on alternate weeks.

“It becomes a waste of fuel and rubber. We’re trying to do it with the equipment we have,” Bunnell said.

Ehrbar said the changes would enable greater efficiency, enabling the village to free up three DPW men to address tree and sidewalk issues.

• Trustee William Carr said that block captains were needed for Neighborhood Watch in some parts of the village.

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