News Nearby: Patchogue Issues 6-Month Building Ban

This story was written by Michael Sorrentino. It was posted by Judy Mottl.

The Patchogue Village Board of Trustees are implementing a six-month moratorium that will prevent owners from expanding the footprint of their building if they are located within the "D-3" business district.

This affects most Main Street and South Ocean Avenue businesses that are in the vicinity of the Four Corners intersection.

Patchogue Village Mayor Paul Pontieri said at the Village Board meeting this past Monday night at Patchogue Village Hall that the intent of the moratorium is to allow the Village to take a look at the current parking plan, and have committees develop a new parking plan to accommodate the future needs of the Village for expansions such as the upcoming New Village Patchogue development. Pontieri cited that the current parking plan was designed for Patchogue Village's needs in the 1960s, when there were less people frequenting businesses.

The moratorium, which received a recommendation from the Suffolk County Planning Commission, will not exceed 180 days. According to the listing in the meeting agenda, the moratorium is being used to consider possibly requiring applicants who want to increase their business's footprint to provide some kind of parking.

In the meantime, building owners within the district will not be able to intensify the use of their building, convert uninhabitable space to habitable space, increase the footprint or square footage of existing buildings or increase their occupancy for the next six months.

What are your thoughts of the moratorium? What parking plan do you think Patchogue Village will need to develop to accommodate the Village's future needs? Talk about it in the comments.