The Village of Great Neck Plaza is considering a temporary, six-month moratorium in the issuance of conditional use permits for restaurants and certain other food establishments in the villageís Business B and C-2 zones, in order to study the overabundance of restaurants and to try to determine a way to attract a more diverse business mix into the downtown area. The proposed law was officially presented before a Plaza board hearing on March 7. Due to many protestations and great concerns on the part of restaurant owners and property owners, the board ultimately decided to do some more research and to adjourn the hearing until the March 21 board meeting.

The moratorium would only prohibit a non-restaurant site from turning into a restaurant or a food establishment for the duration of the moratorium.

Plaza attorney Richard Gabriele explained the reason for such a moratorium, stating that requests for permits for restaurants were becoming more and more predominant in the village. He noted that a third of the 215 businesses in the village are food-related. Gabriele said that an over-abundance of restaurants could have a negative effect on traffic congestion, parking, and demands for public services relating to litter, water, sewage disposal and garbage disposal. He said that the village needs time to study the situation and open up some discussions.

Mayor Jean Celender noted that her immediate predecessor, Bob Rosegarten, had imposed just such a moratorium in 1993; that was an 18-month moratorium, while the current proposal was for only six months.

Many spoke against the proposal. One resident called the effort merely a ìband-aidî and said that there is a major problem with the business area of the Plaza and that professional help is needed. The mayor agreed that professionals are needed and she said that she is looking to hire a specific consultant, in addition to the one who is now, via a grant, looking at Middle Neck Road through the Estates and up through the Old Village.

The mayor and trustees, and several members of the public, spoke of the problem of a downtown area competing with malls and shopping centers. The answer, many said, is to give the public a good reason, in spite of competition, to come and shop and dine in the Plaza. Merchant education was broached, too; there are complaints that local merchants are no longer shopper-friendly and do not know how to treat customers.

Jay Corn, a peninsula resident, a local landlord, and member of the BID (Business Improvement District), echoed other speakers, including restaurant owners, in stating that restricting restaurants would bring more harm than good. One objection is that such a moratorium will produce an ìunlevel playing field,î where landlords would have the upper hand in increasing rates, since restaurant owners would be greatly restricted in finding new locations.

Mr. Corn also addressed a marketing issue, stating that the village should let the downtown area ìrent what the market wants.î He said that, as with other types of businesses, when the area is saturated with one type of business, it will correct itself.

Mr. Corn then added the claim that the 18-month restaurant moratorium under former Plaza Mayor Bob Rosegarten was unsuccessful. ìThis is a bad move, it doesnít work,î Mr. Corn said.

When the Great Neck Record contacted Bob Rosegarten, the former mayor, Mr. Rosegarten said that his moratorium ìworked for the Plaza.î He said he tried to do what was best for both his village and for ìGreat Neck the Greater.î Knowing that he would face criticism, Mr. Rosegarten stated: ìYour ultimate responsibility is to the residents, not the property owners, nor the applicants nor the merchants. It is a balancing act.†If you act responsibly, in the final analysis, the entire community wins, including them, as well.î

Mr. Rosegarten went on to further explain that his moratoriums (two six-month moratoriums) were called due to a ìgreat influx of restaurants back in the mid í90ís.î There were at that time, he said, many applications for approval at one time and ìwe saw the balance of retail properties begin to turn disproportionaly in†favor of all types of restaurants at the exclusion of other retail establishments.î Mr. Rosegarten said that they then ìknew the mix was beginning to change the retail environment of the Plaza Ö if nothing else the Plaza needed a time to breathe and also assimilate the influx of these applications.î

Mr. Rosegarten, too, had hired a consultant, but he noted that ìEven before the moratorium was completed the mix had already begun to change and the Plaza was again getting a more diverse flow of applications.î

In the end, Deputy Mayor Ted Rosen recommended that the village reach out to consultants (as Mayor Celender wants to do), and ask for help from the BID. ìThis is a problem of downtowns,î he said.

Mayor Celender and the board of trustees then decided to adjourn the proposal until March 21, in order to further address the issue.