Armonk Retail Roundup: New Restaurant to Open Late This Month

DeCicco's Looks to Open Next Month

DeCicco's Family Markets is looking to open its Armonk grocery store in mid-June, the company announced on its Facebook page.

The grocery store will take up more than 20,000 in Armonk Square, a new retail and residential development that's current under construction in the hamlet's downtown. Armonk Square, which includes multiple buildings between Main Street and Maple Avenue, will have 10 housing units that will be more than 10,000 square feet, along with other commercial space that will total more than 12,700. The Armonk Square site, in total, is 3.4 acres. The three buildings for Armonk Square appear to be at various stages of exterior construction.

In the meantime, DeCicco's is planning to have an informal job fair at the new store on May 18, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to its Facebook page.

Fortina Readies for Late-May Opening

Another Armonk Square tenant that is getting ready to open is Fortina, a wood-fired pizzeria that anticipates doing so later this month, the restaurant announced on its Facebook page. Fortina will be located in the center's Maple Avenue building. Earlier this month it had its signage installed, according to its Facebook page.

Concerned Citizens of Armonk Appeals CVS Suit

A local group that is seeking to get a special permit approved for CVS overturned has filed an appeal notice for its lawsuit, which was dismissed last month.

The appeal, dated May 1, was made by Concerned Citizens of Armonk. Its membership – they are fellow petitioners - includes nearby merchants Charlene Jacobi, who is co-owner of Armonk's Town Center Pharmacy; Judy Gilmartin-Willsey, who owns Framings Even Design; Angela Himmelstein and Elida Renna, who The Right Thing; Dennis Buonocore, who owns the Armonk Hardware Store. All of the businesses are located on Main Street (Route 128). Two other members of CCA are residents Amy Yallof and Marion Kelly, who have the same descriptions that state each “regularly shops and walks along Main Street and enjoys the unique small town character of Armonk.”

CCA sued the Town of North Castle last August, after its town board voted to grant a special permit for the roughly 17,389-square-foot CVS and for 2,497 square feet for other retail. The site's owner and the applicant were also listed as defendants. The pharmacy chain is seeking to use most of the former A&P supermarket space at 450 Main St., which totaled about 19,886 square feet. The proposal was controversial; according to minutes of the special permit's public hearing that was held before the vote, opponents cited competition, property values and traffic as issues.

The town's planning board then approved the proposal's site plan in October, according to video of the meeting.

In her ruling that dismissed the case, state Supreme Court Judge Joan Lefkowitz wrote that the plaintiff did not have standing for the lawsuit. In her ruling, Lefkowitz wrote that the petitioners, who are members of CCA, failed to demonstrate that they were be harmed any differently than the public at large, which is a criteria. She also ruled that the petitioners could not claim a close promixity presumption, which would mean that they would not need to give a “non-public harm,” and that they did not provide evidence for how far their businesses are from the site of the proposal. In the case of the residents, who are each alleged to live hundreds of feet away from the proposed CVS site, Lefkowitz wrote that no evidence was submitted to support a “finding” that they are the property's immediate vicinity. Even if they were allowed to have the proximity presumption, she wrote that they still could not have standing because they did not prove specific harm that could be suffered falls under the environmental review process or the town's laws. Lefkowitz also argued that fear of competition, which she wrote was a concern about CVS, is not enough to give standing under statutes invoked by the petitioners.

CCA argued that the special permit vote should be overturned because the town board did not “consider the impacts that a national formula retail outlet” would have on the commercial zoning district, which is called the CB District. Its other arguments were that a board member who voted in favor of the permit, Diane DiDonato-Roth, could have a business conflict of interest, and that the planning board did not take a “hard look” at the possibility for adverse impacts on sight and community character when a negative declaration – meaning no significant impacts will happen – was given under the State Environment Quality Review (SEQR). Lefkowitz also wrote that the ability to define character is one that is up to the town.

Standing Ovation Studios Starts Rock-N-Roll Program

Standing Ovation Studios, which is a performing art studio at 1 Labriola Court, recently held an open house for its SOS Rocks program. The space includes rock studios and private instruction rooms, the studio noted in its announcement. The studio opened in February and is owned by John Fanelli, who has a performing arts career of more than 20 years. The rock program is one of several at the place, with others including dance, drama, Mommy and Me dance and summer youth theater. Its phone number is 914-741-4205 and its website is www.standingovationstudios.org.

Mariani Gardens' Market License Request

Mark Real Estate, LLC, the owner of nursery Mariani Gardens (located at 45 Bedford Road) is applying for a market license that would allow for it to sell certain items on its premises. The proposed license would be for 12 months and allow for selling nursery and garden accessories; home furnishings such as furnitures, vases and coffee table books pillows; and “luxury lifestyle accessories.” Examples of the later would include jewelry, women's accessories soaps. The license request would cover 8,577 square feet of the 17,637-square-foot facility.

The request was filed on April 16 by the applicant's attorney, Daniel Hollis, after North Castle's town board authorized the town's building inspector to check the property for any violations. The following day, Assistant Building Inspector Michael Cromwell wrote to the town board that he performed an inspection and found items for sale at Mariani that were not covered under the site's Nursery Business zone, including clothing, jewelry, soaps and indoor furnishings. In his request letter, Hollis noted that granting a market license has been used before in the Banksville hamlet when zoning issues arose. Mark Real Estate is also seeking changes to the text of its zone, which would allow for it to have the same items that are requested in the market license, a wine bar, and an accessory use to allow for social functions such as weddings, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs.