New strip clubs, pawn shops, massage parlors, consignment shops and more won’t be allowed in Glenville for at least six months.
The Town Board approved a six-month ban on opening the businesses on Wednesday to give town officials time to update the zoning code in advance of a $330 million casino planned in Schenectady, just south of the town’s Freemans Bridge Road corridor. Supervisor Chris Koetzle has said casinos attract adult businesses and pawn shops, and they shouldn’t be opening in the town’s gateway corridors.
“If any of these applicants came forward, there would be no consideration of the application,” Koetzle said, referring to the next six months.
Town officials hope to address where the businesses can go as part of the Comprehensive Plan, which is now being rewritten. The ban also applies to new vape shops and thrift stores.
“The reason why we did this was so that the town has proper time to study this in the Comprehensive Plan re-write, and that we deal with it comprehensively so that we’re not looking at these things piecemeal,” Koetzle said.
No one spoke at a public hearing Wednesday night before the unanimous vote, Koetzle said.
The moratorium has no effect on current businesses.
