Horse statue plans nixed for P.F. Chang's Lake Grove location

Hold your horses.

A Chinese restaurant chain has dropped plans to erect 10-foot-high equestrian statues at a new eatery in the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro rescinded the proposal because the Town of Smithtown bans statues from commercial signs. But the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based chain will go ahead with plans for the restaurant.

The horse statues are “off the table,” Michael Colamussi, a Deer Park sign consultant hired by P.F. Chang’s, said Tuesday at a meeting of the Smithtown Board of Zoning Appeals. He said the restaurant believed Smithtown officials would be loath to approve large, detached signs at the mall if the horse statues were permitted.

“These statues ... would restrict the mall from getting free-standing signs in the future,” Colamussi said.

The board then approved a variance allowing the restaurant to build a more conventional, 25-foot sign. Colamussi said such a tall sign was necessary to be seen from the nearest road.