Residents in both Mineola and New Hyde Park have shown little interest in the Big Gulp coming to their neighborhoods and have instead expressed concerns about the opening of two 7-Eleven convenience stores.
At a recent public hearing about plans for a new 7-Eleven to be located on Jericho Turnpike at the intersection of Jay Court, a meeting room full of Mineola residents raised objections about traffic, safety and sanitation issues about the 24-hour convenience store chain moving into the neighborhood.
“I think the proposal devalues the neighborhood,” said resident Bill Plunkett.
He said the additional traffic attracted by the convenience store “threatens the quality of life” in the area and would be “a hazard to the children in the neighborhood.”
Residents raised concerns that their neighborhood would become a thoroughfare for drivers driving south from Hillside Avenue to the 7-Eleven. They also suggested the 24-hour location would draw people buying beer late at night and causing problems in the neighborhood.
“I’m really concerned about security but what really gets me is the traffic problems,” resident Sal Morello said.
Morello said he is concerned about drivers traveling eastbound on Jericho making left turns onto Jay, and problems residents would encounter attempting to make right turns from Jay Court onto Jericho.
“This makes no sense,” he concluded, citing the proximity of an existing 7-Eleven at the intersection of Jericho and Glen Cove Road.
Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said village board members are “concerned about traffic in that area.”
Village of Mineola Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira echoed the residents’ concern about use of Jay Court as a shortcut to the 7-Eleven and their concerns about potential problems in a quiet residential neighborhood.
“It’s a unique development there that will feel any minor change,” Pereira said.
Speaking on behalf of 7-Eleven, attorney Alfred Amato said the applicant’s request to erect the 2,500-square-foot store on the vacant property zoned for commercial use required a special permit, not a variance. He said a 10-foot fence would be placed along the rear of the property and evergreen landscaping planted to help buffer sound from the location.
In response to a question from Strauss about whether traffic exiting the 7-Eleven parking lot onto Jay Court could be prevented from turning left to cause traffic tie-ups for residents trying to gain access to Jericho, Chris Tartaglio of Highpoint Engineering could be “directionalized” to move left with appropriate curbing.
Ultimately, the village board voted to take no decision on the matter, leaving the application open for public comment and a continuation of the public hearing at a later date.
Meanwhile, In New Hyde Park, members of the local civic associations are concerned about the impact of a new 7-Eleven store slated to be erected on the northwest corner at the intersection of HIllside Avenue and New Hyde Park Road. Remnants of a gas station are to be removed to make room for it.
Marianna Wohlgemuth, president of the Lakeville Estates Civic Association, noted that the Town of North Hempstead board of zoning appeals also had acceded to construction of a 7-Eleven at the intersection of Lakeville Road and Union Turnpike next to a Citibank.
“I wonder how many 7-Elevens we will have before we are saturated. I don’t understand why the town is not trying to promote other businesses into our community besides 7-Elevens and banks,” Wohgemuth wrote in an e-mail to members of the New Hyde Park civic associations.
“There goes the neighborhood,” one civic association member replied.
She said the location of the 7-Eleven so close to the intersection of HIllside Avenue and New Hyde Park Road was likely to cause traffic accidents with northbound drivers on New Hyde Park Road attempting to turn left into the parking lot.
But she said since the site was zoned for commercial use and the town zoning board had already approved the application, there is nothing to be done to prevent it.
“You have to pick your battles and this is not a battle that we’re going to win,” Wohlgemuth.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204
