Village of Valley Stream passes new streetscape guidelines

After about five years of legwork, the Village of Valley Stream passed a local law Monday night that will require new businesses to adhere to specific design codes to give the village’s downtown a uniform look.

The law borrowed heavily from the recommendations of planning, zoning, funding and marketing analyses undertaken by Frederick P. Clark Associates Inc., a Fairfield, Conn.-based architectural firm, in conjunction with Hofstra University in 2011.

The studies found that many building facades in the downtown had lost important architectural and decorative elements that were integral to their original designs. Street-level windows were “removed or obscured,” which the study said reduces interest in window-shopping and foot traffic through the area.

The village has in the past added small flourishes to Rockaway Avenue — installing traditional street lamps, uniform garbage cans and, most recently, bike racks. The law, however, goes much further. Its two main objectives are to provide design and streetscape standards for businesses, and to promote economic development for property owners in the commercial district.

The aesthetic guidelines, according to Tom McAleer, the village’s buildings superintendent, came directly from the architectural firm’s recommendations. The law extends the village’s reach beyond its building code, and takes several stylistic trends into account. For example, it forbids temporary or artificial decorative materials such as aluminum and vinyl. Windows and doors must be uncovered and “consistent with the architectural character of the building.” Doors must match the look of the building, and must have transparent glass windows. Windowsills cannot be more than 30 inches higher than the sidewalk.

The law also has a detailed subsection about building colors, signs, awnings and canopies, to help create a more traditional look and prohibit blinking lights and plastic, backlit “box signs” that many residents have criticized for looking too urban.

Resident Albert Green was the only one to speak at the village’s public hearing on the law Monday night, and he voiced concern about policing all of the new intricate design details.

McAleer said that code enforcement officers would patrol Rockaway Avenue and report any violations of the new law. He added that although the law is not retroactive, the village will make businesses aware of the objectives of the new design guidelines. Additionally, if a business changes management and plans any renovations, the business owner would be subject to the new guidelines.

“We’re going to start on Rockaway, and then we’re going to take it from there,” McAleer said. “It’s really for the downtown.” Once businesses start to adhere to the new guidelines, he said, the village would use them as examples to prod more to consider conforming.