Moby Rick's plans to reopen in its current space
Steve Thurston (2021)
Greg Zelezny, manager at Moby Rick’s fresh seafood store in Saratoga Springs’ Congress Plaza, says the company has been briefly shut down because they did not have a “life safety plan” on file with the Saratoga Springs Fire Department. It’s a form, he said, an engineer draws up that shows exits, fire extinguishers and that sort of thing. The location at 26 Congress St. in the former Taylor Brewery and Taproom, is new for Moby Rick’s.
Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Dyer confirmed that the shop had been shut down.
“They were put on notice that they had to finish the [permit] process in order to be legally operating,” Dyer said in a phone call yesterday. They had not gotten a business permit to use the space as a new use, Dyer said, adding, “We are working with them.”
Dyer said the company has been on notice for about a month and that the buildings department is working with them. The building department did not return phone calls.
On Thursday, Zelezny said he was taking care of the issue and hoped to be open by the weekend, but felt more confident in a reopen date next week.
“Learn from the mistakes, I guess, that’s all you can do,” he said.
“I’ve got signs up, but people still insist on pulling on the door,” he said, laughing a bit. “I’ve kind of found the humor in all of it.”
Zoning law change in Queensbury passed
The zoning law that the Queensbury Town Board has been discussing since at least December 2020 passed earlier this week, unanimously. The code now allows “tree service/landscaping” companies to use Rural Residential property commercially with the condition that a company using the property as a tree service must receive a special use permit when it goes through the town’s site-plan review process. During the meeting Monday Jan. 25, board members said the extra condition will require a company to undergo a bit more scrutiny before being allowed to establish a business on the property.
The new code allows a tree service company to operate from Rural Residential space so long it does not engage in on-site processes such as: cutting, milling, chipping, trimming or grinding. Equipment storage, sales offices and temporary storage of by-products such as a mulch is allowed (see the town’s resolution here). The RR3 and RR5 zones already allowed any number of non-residential activities such as day care operations and even a sawmill.
Read our Jan. 12 coverage here, and our first mention of it in December, here.
Davidson Brothers' brewery carryout will deliver free
Steve Thurston (2020)
Davidson Brothers Brewing Co.
Rick Davidson, a partner with his brother John in Davidson Brothers’ Brewing Co., said the downtown Glens Falls brewpub will open its carryout business with a limited menu as early as next weekend. They will be open for limited hours and carryout only.
A bonus: free delivery within a limited zone that will include Glens Falls and surrounding areas. This allows the brewpub to avoid expensive third party apps such as GrubHub and DoorDash, which quickly eat into a restaurant’s profits, Davidson said. Read our coverage of that, here.