A new 7-Eleven store is coming to Mineola, but it will have to follow some instructions.
The village Board of Trustees on Wednesday night approved the controversial store for 400 E. Jericho Turnpike, as mandated by a state appellate court in April.
But with it came a set of restrictions on traffic flow, lighting, deliveries and maintenance that the court said the village could place on the convenience store chain.
“Just because we approved it doesn’t mean we’re turning a blind eye,” Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said.
Most of the conditions address to the board’s traffic concerns, which were the basis for its original rejection of the store in 2012.
Its decision Wednesday says 7-Eleven must put up signs directing traffic out of the store to East Jericho Turnpike.
The restrictions are designed to keep cars from crossing two lanes of traffic on the thoroughfare and to keep drivers off of Jay Court, a street at the west side of the property that leads into a residential neighborhood.
Other rules say the 24-hour store cannot accept deliveries between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., must build a fence at the rear of the property, keep its garbage dumpsters enclosed and install a security camera system.
The village’s decision notes that 7-Eleven agreed to all these measures during the first public hearing about it in October 2011.
But those who live near the property are still concerned they will see an influx of traffic that will further endanger the many children living there, as many drivers already speed through their neighborhood.
“I am so scared that one of the kids in the neighborhood is going to get hit by a car, and it’s only going to be worse now that 7-Eleven’s in place,” resident Eric Shaw said at Wednesday’s meeting.
The trustees agreed with the residents’ concerns, but said the issuing the restrictions was all they could do to assuage them at this point, given the appellate court’s decision.
Strauss said village officials will be monitoring 7-Eleven to make sure they follow the conditions. If further problems arise, he said, the village can penalize the store or create further restrictions.
The village’s final decision on the store came after a three-year court battle that started with 7-Eleven suing the village in the state Supreme Court after its request for a special use permit was denied.
The court sided with the village, but 7-Eleven appealed to the state Appellate Division, which ruled in April that the village had to allow the store to open with “reasonable” restrictions.
In September the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, denied to hear the village’s appeal of that ruling, clearing the way for the store.
