Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope you all had a good summer and a positive transition to another beautiful Long Island fall season. I trust that many of you had an opportunity to attend our annual Summerfest and Harvest festivals. While these events are well attended by our residents, they also bring in those from neighboring communities, so that they may help support our local businesses.
On that same topic, while I have addressed this issue a few times in the past, it is worth repeating again. We should all be supporting local businesses when possible, to keep them solvent.
Whether it is purchasing gas, breakfast on the way to work, getting a haircut, shopping for groceries, or eating out, patronizing local businesses benefits everyone. We all like the convenience of having these establishments there when we need them. Let us continue to support them for the good of these businesses and our village.
We hold retailers and all commercial endeavors to a higher standard than most of the surrounding municipalities. Temporary signage and blowups waving in the wind are not permitted. Retailers are not permitted to put their wares outside of the buildings, in their parking areas, or out by the road. While this may appear at times to be a hardship to a particular business owner, we remind them that this is the very reason they chose Lake Grove for their business. A more upscale environment and neater look are appealing to the average consumer. This played a key role in bringing Wegmans to our village. After two years of conversations with the ownership of this wonderful establishment, we were selected over many other municipalities competing to bring them into their communities.
The addition of Wegmans to our village will bring new businesses to some of the empty buildings with savvy retailers that realize the benefits of being close to such an upscale establishment. We also have many new medical facilities coming into our village with Stony Brook medical occupying the old Sears building and adding new facilities on Middle Country Road.
While we do not have what can be considered a true downtown area in our wonderful village, we do have quality places of business and retailers providing for great shopping and dining experiences.
We continue to meet with real estate investors to research what businesses are best suited to come into our village. Yes, we have been presented with some ventures that are non-compliant with our village code, but we need to stay cognizant of why we originally incorporated them and choose what is in the best interest of our community.
Thank you as always for your support in everything we do to keep our village on the rise. Lake Grove has a great reputation as a desirable place to live and raise a family. Please feel free to reach out to us with any suggestions that you may have to help us maintain and improve our standard of living.
Respectfully yours,
Robert J. Scottaline (Bob)
Mayor