Babylon votes to put a moratorium on new bars, restaurants
Babylon Village Hall in a 2011 photo. Credit: T.C. McCarthy
The Village of Babylon board of trustees voted Tuesday to put a partial moratorium on new bars and restaurants in the village in 2017.
Mayor Ralph Scordino said he hopes the moratorium will help the village strike a balance between places to eat, drink, and shop in the community.
The village already contains a number of bars and restaurants. Alleviating the car congestion and parking crunch that they create is another goal of the plan, Scordino said.
“We just want to get a better count on the volume of traffic and make sure that we have a diversified business district,” Scordino said before the board meeting.
“It seems like, as soon as a retail store goes out of business, someone wants to put a restaurant or bar there,” Deputy Mayor Kevin Muldowney said.
An exception will be made for applications to open a bar or restaurant in a commercial space that previously hosted a venue for drinking or dining.
The village initiated a similar moratorium in 2011.
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