A petition against an application to put a 7-Eleven in a long-abandoned location on Plandome Road in Manhasset has received over 1,200 signatures.
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.
An application for a conditional use permit for retail and food use has been filed with the Town of North Hempstead’s Board of Zoning Appeals, though no hearing date has yet been set.
Created by resident and activist Mary Kay Barket, the petition was launched in June.
“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.
Signers of the petitions left comments expressing distaste for the application. “I am a former Manhasset resident and this would bring a type of people Manhasset does not need,” one signer wrote. “It will destroy the town and 7-11 is in Roslyn let the people that want [that go to] Roslyn. Manhasset real estate for the houses that are around and behind it will feel the effects of it Please do not let 7-11 come to this wonderful place. I go to Manhasset a lot and the traffic will be horrible. It’s already packed. Do not I repeat do not let the business come.”
“Now, more than ever, we need to support locally owned, independent merchants in our small town, not only to retain its small-town character and protect the American Dream but also to sustain its unique identity,” another wrote. “Opening 7-11s and the like are not needed here.”
“Plandome Road is already bad … this would make it worse and force traffic into our neighborhoods,” one signer wrote. “You should also look at the 7-11 by Roslyn train station. It’s always crowded!”
The Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations spoke against the proposal at a meeting in June, where President Richard Bentley said at one point that he had not yet met a Manhasset resident who was in favor of the project and application but did suggest a more amenable area might be available.
“I’ve talked to hundreds of residents about this, and not a single one of them thinks this is a good idea for Plandome Road,” Bentley said. “This is something that would fit more on Northern Boulevard.”
