The Great Neck Plaza Board trustees on Wednesday voted to ban businesses that would profit primarily from on-site smoking, ending a moratorium on such businesses that began in September 2013.
In the process, Plaza trustees overrode a previous vote to seek permission from the Nassau County planning commission to ban the businesses.
“We’ve had an exhausted period of studying this,” Celender said at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting. “As more time has gone on the more we find the health risks of certain smoking activities this law will address.”
The board voted in December to seek permission from the planning commission to ban the businesses, said Great Neck Plaza’s attorney Richard Gabriele.
Gabriele said the planning commission requested in January further information about the proposed ban.
He said the planning commission also had concerns about whether the law was too broad, whether it was unconstitutional and whether it would hurt any pre-existing businesses.
“In terms constitutionality, I haven’t looked much into it, but even [the planning commission’s] lawyer said there is not much seen to that,” Gabriele said.
He said the law was made broad so it wouldn’t be discriminatory.
Currently, he said, there are no businesses in the village that profit primarily from on-site smoking, so no businesses currently in operation would be effected by the new law.
Gabriele said he will send a letter to the planning commission explaining why the Plaza board decided to not wait for their decision.
Trustees said they were confident they cast the right vote.
“Every day in the news the government is looking into certain studies that say its too early to say if e-cigarettes are safe, and that they don’t know the long term effects,” Trustee Pam Marksheid said. “We don’t know if it leads into smoking actual cigarettes.”
The trustees enacted the moratorium in September to study the effects of hookah smoking.
The issue of smoking-related businesses came into the public eye of Great Neck after The Fountain Blue Hookah, located at 435 Middle Neck Road, was given permit approval in the Village of Great Neck in June despite protests from the public to deny the owners a conditional-use permit.
The owners of the controversial lounge later came under fire from Village of Great Neck trustees, who said the business’ owner made “misrepresentations” during their conditional-use permit application process. The Village of Great Neck said they might impose sanctions on the hookah lounge, but ultimately decided not to take action.
Village of Great Neck trustees then approved a bill in November that prohibits on-site smoking businesses such as hookah parlors and cigar bars, citing health concerns. The Fountain Blue Hookah, which was the only current hookah parlor in the village, was “grandfathered” into this new legislation, allowing it to continue operation.
The Village of Great Neck’s vote followed that of the Village of Great Neck Estates, which voted for a ban in August.
In other business, Village of Great Neck Plaza trustees celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Japanese restaurant Daruma of Tokyo, located at 95 Middle Neck Road, by declaring Feb. 5, 2015 as Yoshi Hirashima Appreciation Day in honor of the restaurant’s owner.
The proclamation issued by the village reads that Daruma of Tokyo is a Great Neck landmark, as is an unofficial welcoming point in the village. It also reads that owner Hirashima is an active member in the community, always participating in the village’s Restaurant Week and promenade nights in the summer.
“You always say ‘what can I do to help,’” Celender said to Hirashima. “You go to him and ask him for something in the community and he’s always there – he’s a true community-minded person.”
Celender thanked Hirashima for being a good merchant in a community where it is not always easy to sustain a business.
“This is a big honor,” Hirashima said. “Thank you to all of the community and the mayor and the trustees.”
