Years after Parrot Jungle (now Pinecrest Gardens) moved out because the county and/or village and neighbors objected to putting in a banquet facility, the Village Council is ready to enter into agreement to put in a banquet facility at Pinecrest Gardens and also attempt to rescind an existing covenant that it has on alcohol.
There is a meeting on November 13 and the Council is trying to change the covenant that presently limits alcohol being served at parties in the Pinecrest Gardens. Now, it wants to change that to allow alcohol as long as it is served indoors. The purpose is obvious: if alcohol is allowed at indoor events/parties, then the Village can enter into a lucrative agreement with a third-party to operate a facility inside Pinecrest Gardens. One of the Council Members even said so in a meeting on June 18: the real money is not in operating a restaurant, but in the catering/banquet opportunities.
The real question is: 1) why does the Village Council want 200 people leaving parties late at night from Pinecrest Gardens after drinking, causing potential harm to our neighborhoods? 2) why, after basically giving the boot to Parrot Jungle, is the Village now essentially doing the same thing that Parrot Jungle owner Bern Levine wanted at this historical facility (ie, creating a banquet hall?)
To make matters worse, the Council has given very little notice of its real intentions, and the recently approved amendment suggested that this would allow them to obtain a better deal for a food service facility – which most voters interpreted as a cafeteria or small sandwich shop type of location, not a 200-person restaurant with banquet facilities to have weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other private parties.
The truth must come out. Please show up on Tuesday evening, November 13 to voice your opinion. Protect Pinecrest’s neighborhoods from any potential for additional drunken driving resulting from this facility. And, stop the Village from changing a covenant to which it agreed in 2002 when it purchased the property from the former Parrot Jungle owners.
By Angel Gallinal
