Later this month, the Patchogue Village Board will approve an 18-month moratorium on new restaurants in the downtown.
The measure will halt “any new construction or development approvals on restaurants, bars, taverns, nightclubs and cabarets in the D-2 and D-3 Business Districts and the DRD.”
Here’s everything to know:
1. The idea behind the moratorium is to give the village time to figure out its parking crunch. What was once a retail destination has turned into a restaurant destination. While retail stores might employee as little as one or two people at any given time, restaurants employ dozens.
Replacing retail (dry spaces) with restaurants (wet spaces) has led to a surge in employees in need of parking. There are roughly 2,200 parking spots in the downtown area, of which the village estimates some 600 to 650 are typically taken up by employees at peak parking hours (nights and weekends). That’s more than 25 percent employees.
2. The law reads 18 months, but the moratorium could be shorter, and that’s all dependent upon the village’s ability to free up parking. Among plans being considered are a parking garage behind the courts building on West Main Street, or elsewhere, or finding more surface-level parking by acquiring and razing properties, such as what the village has done on Church Street.
The village has contracted with a parking consultant called Level G, which recently conducted drone flyovers at several different times throughout the village to identify under-utilized lots, such as the parking lot behind Burlington Coat Factory, says Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri.
The village wants a dedicated employee parking area to free up spaces for people looking to go out and shop and eat — without those visitors having to circle for parking, which ultimately hurts downtown businesses if they decide simply to go elsewhere.
However, the issue with an employee lot is figuring out how to transport employees, especially female employees, back and forth to work safely, as many such employees in restaurants work well into the night.
3. The term wet space does not apply to any type of business that uses a lot of running water, such as a salon, it strictly means restaurants. But Pontieri tells us that after six months, when the village has to update the Suffolk County Planning Commission, the language of the moratorium can be tweaked to maybe only apply to high-volume restaurants.
Takeout places that typically employee fewer people — and whose customers turnover parking spots rapidly — might still be allowed to convert a former retail space into a restaurant if the law is tweaked, he said.
“We need to see what the county says first, to modify the code to allow small wet uses,” Pontieri said. “It’s not just any wet use, it’s the high volume wet uses” that the village is really concerned about.
4. More about that potential parking garage.
It would be built on county-owned property behind the Sixth District Court that the village has long maintained through a municipal partnership agreement.
Earlier this year, Pontieri expressed frustration with slow movement on the county’s part when it came to talking and planning for the garage.
But he now says the county has since been much more responsive.
He said village officials recently had a “very good meeting with the county and the courts.”
Pontieri doesn’t want the cost of the garage to affect “the resident taxpayer,” but he says the village is very close to being able to afford to bond for the estimated $7 million project, because of already secured grants and revenues from the meters, as well as the revenues from the garage itself.
The village generates about $500,000 a year in meter revenue, though the program costs about $200,000 to $225,000 for manpower, technology and supplies. Add another $50,000 for maintenance, and the village is left with roughly $200,000 with which to pay a bond.
The garage could also yield another $50,000 to $60,000 annually after all the associated costs, which would include tight security, according to the mayor.
The other issue would be providing parking for the courts during an estimated 18-month buildout, as well as safe parking for judges that’s close to their chambers.
The village could also turn to another location for a garage, such as the Church Street lot, Oak Street lot or Terry Street lot.
But building in any of those lots would create their own stresses.
“The courthouse is the least disruptive place, because there is going to be disruption,” Trustee Jack Krieger said in January. “No matter where we do it, the lot is going to be closed for like 18 months. The courthouse offers us the least impact on the businesses.”
5. The moratorium has the support of many existing restaurants in the village, if not all, though some landlords looking to lease their currently empty spaces in the village have their gripes, understandably.
Still, it will be formally approved at the March 23 Village Board meeting.
Photo: East Main Street in downtown Patchogue as it appeared at sunset on June 7, 2019. (Credit: Benny Migliorino/Benny Migs Photo)
