Murals, a new food truck, and replacing blight with pocket parks
By Michael T. Baldwin
There has been a small, but non-lethal hiccup for a new business that plans to locate in Wellsville. The village board said Monday night that each parcel in the Riverwalk Plaza on Bolivar Road, with the sole exception of Tops Market, was classified as Residential (R-2) instead of Business (B-1) zoning. The Plaza first opened in 1994 with K-Mart and Tops as the anchor tenants. Recently, it was announced that Runnings, a retail chain with 57 stores in eight states, had agreed to purchase the vacant K-Mart building. However, the company discovered the apparent “clerical error” which has caused a slight delay in the closing of the sale transaction. There was some extended discussion among Trustees, which ended with Mayor Randy Shayler calling for a public hearing July 25 at 5:30 p.m. to amend the zoning law to fix the error that dates back 28 years. Runnings expects to employ dozens of people and begin operation next year.
Mural Ordinance
Village officials heard from Dr. Gregory Gunzburger who serves on the Planning Board. He said he and his colleagues are working on a potential ‘mural law.’ It would establish guidelines, an application process and approval for any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. The city of Olean is doing the same for a proposed mural at Jamestown Community College’s downtown campus. The ordinance would make the Code Office the first point of contact. Mayor Shaylor commended planners for “getting out in front of this.”
New food truck approved for Wellsville
The Wellsville Village Board Monday Night approved the Peddling and Soliciting application from Glenn Vancise, who operates Mama’s Country Kitchen mobile food trailer. The Board also decided to waive vendor applications July 15-17 for Balloon Rally affiliated efforts. Officials noted that on Saturday during the Main Street festival, close to 100 vendors have already agreed to participate.
More local parks?
Mayor Randy Shayler said the village intends to apply for the next round of Restore NY funding to address blight and unsafe buildings. Currently, there are six houses adorned with a large red X, marking the building as unsafe. Shayler said if he had his way, all those buildings would be “knocked down to make new pocket parks.”
