Chamber of Commerce Debates Village Events

The September meeting of the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce became contentious on Tuesday evening September 21, as members gathered for a meeting at Rothmans on Boniface Circle.

Under the leadership of Lewis Arlt at Houlihan Lawrence the membership has grown to 85 members and now includes traditional retailers as well as banks and service providers. Members snacked on delicious refreshments provided by Lange’s and the new Good Life Gourmet and had the chance to get reacquainted with members of the Scarsdale business community.

Village Planner Liz Marrinan was invited to update the group on the Comprehensive Village Plan as well as a proposal to change the parking requirements for restaurants to make it feasible to bring more eateries into the village. Surveys done for the Comprehensive Plan revealed that residents would like a livelier downtown with more restaurants and cultural events. As a consequence, the Planning Board is studying the parking requirements, which now dictate that restaurants pay a steep fee to the village to finance the required number of parking spots, which are double the number for restaurants than they are for retail stores. Marrinan’s initial work shows that Scarsdale’s parking requirements for restaurants are far more restrictive than neighboring towns such as Bronxville, Rye and Larchmont. Relaxed requirements would allow the village to convert retail locations like the former Waterworks space into restaurants and apparently the village has already received many inquiries from restaurateurs who wish to open in the Village.

She said that the Planning Board will soon hold public hearings on the issue and invited the membership to attend.

She also provided an update on the Popham Road Bridge, currently under construction. Three lanes should remain open during all phases of the project and ultimately there will be ten-foot sidewalks on either side of a five-lane bridge. The entire bridge is scheduled for completion by November 2011 and the total cost is of the work is estimated to be $17.2 million.

Mayor Carolyn Stevens was also on hand and concurred with Marrinan that changing the parking requirements could lead to a livelier downtown. She asked the retailers to consider remaining open at night to bring shoppers and diners to the Village in the evening.

The conversation grew heated when Arlt brought up the summer Sidewalk Sale. Though it had been a successful sale, several retailers were angry that vendors who did not own stores were permitted to set up tables directly in front of retail stores and sell competitive merchandise. Since the Village has several jewelry stores, they felt that it was not right to have outsiders selling jewelry on the sidewalk and asked that this policy be reconsidered. A sub-committee was formed to edit the Chamber by-laws to avoid a similar situation in the future while still inviting businesses and organizations without a location in the Village to participate.

Similarly, the Fine Arts Festival, which was held on Father’s Day weekend, was also the subject of debate. Many of the artists had set up booths directly in front of store windows, preventing customers from accessing Village stores on this popular shopping weekend. The streets of the Village were closed to accommodate the artists and with little parking available, residents stayed away from downtown and did not make Father’s Day gift purchases. A local art dealer felt that the quality of the art was poor and that the festival had little benefit to Scarsdale.

As it was successful for the show producer and did bring foot traffic to the Village, the Chamber has been considering repeating it next year. But the retailers contended that the Festival producers gain was their loss. Retailers were adamant that they did not want to host another festival in the Village and asked that it be set up at Village Hall. Arlt promised to consider the memberships’ concerns and to formulate a new plan for the festival.

Watch for upcoming events sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, including the Scarsdale Concours on October 17, Halloween Window Painting on October 24 and tree lighting on December 3.