Ground-Floor Rights Granted to Allstate
The Farmingdale Village board granted a Special Use permit to Allstate Insurance after considerable debate on the part of the Board of Trustees regarding village codes.
The Allstate office, located at 223 Main Street for over 30 years, had submitted a Special Use application to move across the street to a larger facility at 222-224 Main Street in order to expand the scope of operations.
However, standing in the way was a village ordinance restricting business offices from ground-floor spaces on Main Street, which the village generally prefers to reserve for retail. Allstate was grandfathered into its ground-floor spot at the current location, and sought to retain ground-floor rights in the new location across the street.
Ekstrand spoke in favor of granting the permit, saying Allstate brings benefits to other businesses on Main Street.
“They’ve been a member of the community for many years, and it has been shown to me that they increase the foot traffic on Main Street,” he said. “They are a very high-volume business, and both their customers and their agents help to bring additional business to the retail establishments surrounding their location.”
The Special Use permit was granted to Allstate with a vote of 3-2, with Deputy Mayor Patricia Christiansen and Trustee Cheryl Parisi voting against it, citing adherence to the existing village codes.
Village to Get Phone Upgrade
Ekstrand spoke about a major upgrade to the village’s phone system that is currently in the works; the existing phones are running on a long-obsolete computer operating system and can no longer be technically supported.
“Our phone system is run by DOS…yes, DOS. We’re not sure when it was installed, but they stopped making it in 1995,” he said. “They haven’t made the parts for our phone system for many years, so before it goes, we’re going to get a new one.”
The new phone system will be installed by Black Box Network Services at a cost of $13,963.94; this amount will include implementation, installation, programming, and training.
The next public meeting of the Farmingdale Board of Trustees is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 7, at 8 p.m.
