White Plains Cabaret Law Updates Reveal Pressures in Entertainment Industry
The public hearing on changes to the White Plains Zoning Ordinance affecting cabarets was closed during the May 4 Common Council meeting and the changes to the ordinance passed unanimously with a section on cabaret entry fee structure tabled to another time.
Restaurant owners at the public hearing, in particular, Dan Coughlan, owner of the Coliseum, were concerned that not being able to charge entrance fees to events at their businesses would negatively impact their business models.
Mayor Tom Roach explained that under the current cabaret law in White Plains, entrance fees were already prohibited and that those fees were not part of the code change up for vote, but that the fee discussion would be tabled to another time.
Back in May 2014, the White Plains Building Department suggested a moratorium on the issuance of new special permits for cabaret operation because the existing law did not address the emergence of new businesses in the city that predominantly provide entertainment and serve alcoholic beverages.
The Building Department then proposed an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance to create two cabaret classes – a primary cabaret and an accessory cabaret. They are distinguished by the area of the business dedicated to entertainment as opposed to restaurant use when the cabaret is in operation.
The newly passed ordinance defines a cabaret as any room or space in which musical entertainment, singing, dancing or other form of amusement by performers and/or by patrons is allowed. Further, a cabaret is only permitted in connection with a restaurant.
A restaurant or café that provides incidental entertainment without dancing either by electrical devices such as stereos or radios or media players, but not including music provided by a disc jockey is not considered a cabaret. Similarly, non-amplified music performed by not more than four persons or a person with or without a low-wattage amplifier associated with a single instrument or microphone is not considered a cabaret.
The ordinance identifies a primary cabaret as a restaurant where the dancing and/or entertainment, in the aggregate, occupies more that 40 percent of the net floor area of the business.
The accessory cabaret is a restaurant where the entertainment and/or dancing do not occupy more than 40 percent of the net floor area.
A restaurant has been specifically defined as a business primarily engaged in preparing, cooking and serving food and beverages on premises, selected from a full menu by patrons seated at a table or counter, served by a waiter or waitress and consumed on the premises.
Outdoor cabarets and outdoor dining in conjunction with “fast food eating establishments” are specifically prohibited from obtaining a cabaret permit.
Other specifics of the ordinance state that cabarets should not be located within 150 feet of any residential district or within 200 feet of any lot line of a place of worship, hospital, domiciliary care facility or community residence. A primary cabaret cannot be located within 300 feet of a dwelling unit. And, all cabarets will be located at grade level.
At the May 4 public hearing business owners said that changes in the Central Parking District zone of White Plains to include multi-use developments was changing the environment of the city’s downtown. Many of the businesses located in that district are opting to attract members of the Millennial Generation who do not necessarily make reservations at restaurants, but who prefer to move from club to club, waiting on lines outside. Residential neighborhoods bordering this district have been faced with noise issues and at times property destruction as partygoers have moved beyond the confines of the entertainment area.
Executive Billiards and Ron Black’s up for public hearings permit applications for cabarets had their hearing tabled to the next Council on June 1. Ichiro and Red Plum public hearings were scheduled for May 12 at 5 p.m.
