'Honor your code, honor your word'

The Village of Warwick welcomed me and shook my hand 26 years ago.
When I bought my home they gave me their word in writing regarding the property at 16 Elm that “any use detrimental to neighboring properties by reason of noise, odor, or ANY factor dangerous to the peace, enjoyment, health or safety of the neighborhood is a prohibited use.”
Ninety bar stools, hamburger joint exhaust, bar chatter every nice day rising from the remaining 13,50 square feet of outdoor decks and a 3,600 square foot facility will inevitably increase light and noise pollution and will aggravate existing village/ neighborhood congestion and traffic problems.
This proposed use very simply falls into the prohibited use category.
At 150 years old the lessons and traditions a young village learns have had time to mature.
When you give your word to your neighbors you keep it. No lawyer can contest it.
In 1990 many of the same neighbors contested and resisted the application for the car storage lot at 16 Elm.
Boundaries on the zoning map were included as a condition of permitting the lot to address neighborhood concerns.
Now those boundaries and related restrictions have actually gone missing from village records. Wherever could they have gone? It’s kind of creepy.
There is just enough left to be certain they existed. They are acknowledged and remembered by the village board but no one can put their finger on the details?
Even when complete documentation mysteriously goes missing you still go back to the promises and commitments you made and you keep your word.
Your word is your bond or in this case your code.
It’s not just us close by that will be affected.
Property values village wide stand to be compromised.
Our neighborhood expects the village to keep their commitments even when that is uncomfortable for a long time merchant. That’s what village life is all about.
Honor your code, honor your word.
Patrick Gallagher
Warwick