City Cites Binghamton Restaurant Developer for “Very Nice” Sign

The city of Binghamton is poised to take legal action against a developer who installed a sign for a new restaurant before receiving official approval.

Mark Yonaty is preparing to open the business at the downtown Lackawanna Train Station on Lewis Street near the city-owned baseball stadium. The restaurant will be called Station 45 American Chop House.

Yonaty said he received a court notice regarding the sign on Thursday. The notice was issued by zoning officer Greg Buell of the city planning department. It indicated the Commission on Architecture and Urban Design was required to authorize the sign before it was put up.

Buell declined to comment on the issue Friday afternoon, referring the matter to Mayor Jared Kraham.

Yonaty criticized the city's action on a sign that was described as "very nice" and "lovely" by commission members during a November 1 meeting. They were concerned that a precedent would be set if they approved a backlit sign.

Yonaty told WNBF News: "It's ridiculous." He said he had waited several weeks to receive commission approval. He said he had to move forward with the sign installation before weather conditions worsened.

Mayor Kraham, who is an ex-officio member of the commission, declined to comment specifically on the action taken by the city regarding the sign.

In an email, Kraham wrote: "I'm confident there's a path forward that works for the business and also allows for the review required — by law — for a local historic landmark property."

Responding to inquiries about the sign dispute, the mayor also wrote that he believes the planned restaurant is "a really good project for Binghamton."

Kraham said "Station 45 will be a great addition to downtown Binghamton’s restaurant scene when it opens — both contributing to the city’s stadium district and as a creative adaptive use of a historic building."

WATCH: Video of what the place looked like six months ago...

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.