The village planning board gave the nod for John L. Gardner to renovate this structure at 528 South Main St., Massena, and open a flea market-style used furniture store. NorthCountryNow.com photo by Andy Gardner.

By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The Massena village planning board unanimously voted to allow John L. Gardner to renovate and open a flea market-style furniture store at 528 South Main Street.

Gardner said the store will sell new furniture that he himself builds. Vendors will be able to rent stall space to sell other items, which could include used furnishing, crafts, or antiques.

“It would be similar to Market Barn in Malone,” Gardner said, adding that the vendors’ only activity on-site will be leaving their wares for him to sell.

Gardner intends to open the new store by Aug. 1, according to a letter he wrote to the planning board that chairman Frank Hutt read aloud.

“I think this would be a good business for the village of Massena,” Hutt read from the letter.

The board’s only concerns, which Gardner said he will address, involved having a functioning bathroom with handicap accessibility and designating parking spaces with painted lines.

“I think the biggest thing you’ve got is making sure that the restroom will take care of a handicap,” board member Brian Schafer said.

“When Murphy was there, it was a bugger to get out when there were two or three cars in there,” planning board member Joe Cardinal said, referring to the last business in that location, Murphy’s Lawn and Garden.

Code enforcement officer Bill O’Brien was concerned about the business complying with rules regarding on-site construction, but Gardner said he makes his furniture elsewhere and will only be applying polyurethane in a cordoned-off paint area.