Following intensely negative feedback from the surrounding community, an application to place a 7-Eleven at a site on Plandome Road in Manhasset has been withdrawn, according to North Hempstead Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey (D-Great Neck).
The site is a former mechanic’s shop at 260 Plandome Road that owner David Mandel separated into stalls and offers to rent for commuters taking the Long Island Rail Road, with the Manhasset station directly across the street.
Lurvey, who counts Manhasset in her district, made the announcement at a Jan. 13 meeting of the Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations, held over Zoom.
“I would like to kick off 2021 by telling you that community action works and that the 7-Eleven applicants have withdrawn the application,” Lurvey said. “It has been removed from the [Board of Zoning Appeals] calendar.”
The council first voiced displeasure with the proposal when the applicants appeared before it in mid-June, objecting over traffic issues and the store selling vaping products close to the Manhasset Secondary School, among other things.
A petition against the proposal began the same month. Created by resident and activist Mary Kay Barket, it received over 1,200 signatures.
“We, the residents of Manhasset and surrounding areas, request that the TONH BZA deny the application from 7-Eleven to allow a conditional use permit for retail food sales submitted for the property located at 260 Plandome Road,” Barket wrote in a statement accompanying the petition. “A 7-Eleven will further erode the safety of residents as well as be adverse to the character of our neighborhood downtown ‘main street,’ Plandome Road.”
Barket continued that “a 7-Eleven will negatively impact our Manhasset quality of life and character of our downtown neighborhood,” citing an increase of cars on Plandome Road “at ALL HOURS of the day and night … including many that will make a LEFT turn entering and exiting from Plandome Road.”
“Any increased traffic further endangers our community – both pedestrians and drivers,” Barket wrote.
At the meeting, Lurvey said that the petition and further community engagement led to the application’s withdrawal.
“I’m sure it’s a combination of the petition, which had almost 1,300 signatures,” Lurvey said. “I know that there were many, many, many letters to the BZA also expressing concerns of all different sorts. And so I am very happy to announce this fabulous news.”
