GN residents not in favor of adding 7-Eleven store

John Santa

Village of Great Neck residents took a collective big gulp last week in response to the Exxon Mobil Corporation’s plans to develop a 24-hour 7-Eleven convenience store along Middle Neck Road.

More than 50 residents attended last Thursday’s nearly two-hour long Village of Great Neck Board of Zoning Appeals meeting to speak out against Exxon Mobil’s project to rehabilitate the site of an abandoned gas station at 788 Middle Neck Road by opening a 7-Eleven.  

“That was just the opening hearing to get some idea how the community felt about it,” Village of Great Neck Board of Zoning Appeals member Steven Markowitz said. “They have a long way to go.”

For the crowd of residents who filled Great Neck’s Village Hall to its capacity during last week’s public hearing, that may come as welcome news.

Attorney Paul Bloom, of Melville-based firm Harras, Bloom and Archer LLP., made an initial request for six variances, which he said would make the operation of the convenience store possible.

Bloom represents Kouros Torkan, who is attempting to operate the proposed 7-Eleven on behalf of Exxon Mobil.

“This is (a company) that has very substantial financial backing,” Bloom said of Exxon Mobil. “We are trying to help, yes ourselves without question, but also to try to add something to the community by bringing in a rated tenant into the community. We’re happy that we were able to obtain such a tenant.”

In addition to allowing for 24-hour operation, Bloom requested variances for parking and zoning at the property located at 788 Middle Neck Road. He also made a request for permission to place a garbage dumpster in front of the 7-Eleven.

“There’s no benefit to a branded national name to be associated with a dirty, unkempt, not well-maintained property,” Bloom said. “What we’re getting is the value of that corporate backing and guarantee for the operation of this facility.”

But following presentations from nine residents who spoke against the creation of the 7-Eleven due to crime, traffic and environmental concerns, Village of Great Neck Board of Zoning Appeals Chairman Dennis Grossman adjourned the public hearing on the variance requests for the proposed convenience store.

Grossman said the public hearing will be on the agenda of the village’s next regularly scheduled board of zoning appeals meeting on Thursday, July 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Last week’s meeting was halted due to time constraints and to allow resident’s more opportunity to express their opinions on the proposed 7-Eleven at the board of zoning appeals’ next meeting, Grossman said. 

“I’m not sure what the next step will be,” Markowitz said. “At the next meeting of the BZA, we will resume the hearings and then start making some decisions on how to proceed.”

The application to create the new 7-Eleven was received by the village about three weeks ago, Markowitz said.

The proposal includes plans to operate the 24-hour convenience store on a 0.39-acre property on the corner of Middle Neck and Stemboat roads, which previously housed a gas station, Bloom said.

Despite closing “two to three years” ago, the gas station had been in operation since 1937 with the existing 1,965-square foot building receiving a renovation in 1970, Bloom said.

“We are in effect revitalizing this corner, which has become an eyesore with all the boards on the windows and nothing but chains blocking everybody from using that property,” the attorney said.

Although the site has an “extensive history with the (Department of Environmental Conservation),” Bloom said that allowing Exxon Mobil to develop the convenience store will also be beneficial to the environment.

“I think the community as a whole is quite aware of the (oil) plume that is associated with this,” he said. 

Great Neck resident Hanna Packer, however, wasn’t convinced of the validity of Exxon Mobil’s plans to protect the local environment. She said the site of the proposed 7-Eleven could be more responsibly developed.

“For God sakes, we have been doing and destroying our environment for so many years,” Packer said. “It’s time to do something different. What about if we decide to plant something there, to create a pleasant space for people who walk by.”

But Bloom said due to the oil plume left by the gas station, developing the property for anything other than a business would be impossible.

“This property has very limited uses,” the attorney said. “There is no residential use that is going to be permitted, not only pursuant to the code, but if it was going to be rezoned. It’s not a property, which would be suitable for this use.”

In addition to environmental concerns, residents in attendance at last week’s meeting also presented opposition to keeping the 7-Eleven open 24-hours a day.

“This village has been known to shut down at 11 o’clock and to have something like this brought into our village would be an eyesore,” Village of Great Neck resident Julia Shields said. “It’s very quiet. It’s very pleasant and it’s very nice living here. We don’t need something like that in the neighborhood.”

Colleen Barry, who lives on the second floor of an apartment building next to the site of the proposed 7-Eleven, said the convenience store would also generate unwelcome noise at all hours of the night.

“We live on the second floor, I mean, I would like to be able to have my windows open,” Barry said. “I don’t want to have to shut my windows just because 7-Eleven wants to move in. There’s going to be all kinds of activity and movement.”

And that activity could also lead to an upswing in crime, said Great Neck resident Parham Shaer, who presented the board with a petition signed by nearly 120 people opposed to the addition of the 7-Eleven in their village. 

“Whether it’s 10 minutes or for an hour, it’s just a well known fact that people loiter at 7-Elevens from here all the way to California,” Shaer said. “It’s a big concern because we don’t want that in our neighborhood.”

Great Neck resident Lisa Levine said concerns over crime and loitering will be heightened with the Nassau County Police Department’s 6th Precinct set to be downsized to a “community policing center” later this month.

“As we all know the police department is being reduced these days and if the 7-Eleven needs increased police surveillance of that corner, then the police will be less available for the community,” Levine said.

For Levine, there is also another major concern with the proposed convenience store.

“I would say the 7-Eleven is not in keeping with the character of the ‘old village,’” she said. “I believe that our property values, especially close to that corner, are going to come down.”

Great Neck resident Ofra Panzer, agreed with Levine’s assessment.

“I’ve lived on the other side of this site for the last 25 years,” Panzer said. “The neighborhood is usually peaceful and rather quiet at night.”

Panzer said the “convenience” provided of the 7-Eleven was not worth the hassle.

“The quiet nights that we have been accustomed to will be extinct as the echo that will be heard will be the drivers pulling into patronize the 7-Eleven and slamming their car doors,” she said.

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