Unsatisfied with a review by the village’s land use boards, Mamaroneck residents rallying against Ralph’s Italian Ices—an ice cream shop which has been the subject of a lengthy zoning appeal—may launch a separate appeal after the village building inspector indicated the shop is not required to seek additional variances.
According to resident Anthony Francella, who lives on Keeler Avenue, a street adjacent to Ralph’s—located on East Boston Post Road—residents maintain that several variances have fallen under the inspector’s radar.
Among those items are the storefront’s use of lighted signs, parking within 10 feet of the street without setback, and a second driveway leading to a residential street.
“This isn’t just a Keeler Avenue, Frank Avenue, issue,” Francella said. “This could happen in anyone else’s neighborhood.”
The recommendation that Ralph’s isn’t required to seek additional variances was made clear through records obtained by residents via a Freedom of Information Law, FOIL, request showing village Building Inspector Dan Gray, in an email to Lester Steinman, a member of the village’s zoning board, recommending that “no new variances are required.”
The letter also states that an explanation for the lack of variances in the form of a “bulleted list” will follow. According to additional FOIL requests sent by residents, no such list was ever provided by the building inspector.
Meg Yergin, a resident who has been involved in the appeal of Ralph’s zoning compliance, said that while residents have not yet filed the second appeal to the zoning board, but the document has been drafted and residents may still file depending on the outcome of an upcoming zoning board meeting.
The second appeal would seek to hear the list of additional variances in front of the zoning board.
Since the summer, when Ralph’s—a popular Staten Island-based chain—opened its first-ever Westchester County location in Mamaroneck, backlash from residents in proximity to the business has generated controversy, and ultimately an appeal of its license to operate.
Specifically, residents grew increasingly alarmed by traffic conditions and noise, claiming that the storefront had been allowed to operate as a result of a misclassification as a retail establishment by the village Planning Department.
While Ralph’s was granted a interim permit to operate with reduced hours in July after a zoning appeal process, residents still maintain that the establishment—which is currently operating in a C-1 zoning district—should be reclassified as a fast food establishment and undergo a more stringent review process. A lawsuit filed by Scott Rosenburg, the store’s owner, attempting to overturn the zoning board’s decision to send the store through a special permit process, was thrown out of court a little more than a week after being filed.
Since the residents’ appeal, Rosenburg has agreed to undergo a site plan review and parking study in an attempt to alleviate parking and safety concerns spurred by the store’s ample patrons spilling over onto village sidewalks and motorists filling parking spaces on residential streets.
On Feb. 2, after press time, the village Zoning Board of Appeals will issue a determination on Ralph’s use of an outdoor counter service; a style of serving which is currently forbidden without a variance under village code.
Additionally, while the current hours of operation, imposed by the zoning board in August, dictate that the store may operate until 10:30 p.m. on the weekdays and 11:30 p.m. on the weekends, Rosenburg is requesting that both stipulations be extended by one hour.
Gray, the building inspector, could not be reached for comment as of press time
