Old Westbury passes law limiting road repair, reviews building applications

Teri West
Alfred M. Sutton, the architect for the Old Westbury Hebrew Congregations renovations, presented new drawings to the village's Board of Trustees Monday. (Photo by Teri West)

Roads in the Village of Old Westbury cannot be opened if they have been paved within the last five years, as dictated in a law the Board of Trustees passed unanimously Monday.

The board also reviewed plans for a new Burger King franchise at the Mobil gas station and convenience store on Jericho Turnpike and Glen Cove Road and a catering hall at the Old Westbury Hebrew Congregation.

The repaving law amends the village code to ensure that street opening permits are not granted if the road has been constructed or resurfaced in the last five years. It excludes permits for the installation of new gas pipes to residencies.

“In the last three years we have done approximately 31 roads in the village, we spent over $5 million, we have three more additional roads proposed, we’re spending a million dollars more of taxpayer money on redoing our roads and we want to protect those roads,” said Trustee Marina Chimerine, who recommended the law.

The law mirrors a law that the Town of North Hempstead passed late last year that bans roads from being repaved within three years of the last repaving and five years of when they were constructed.

The Burger King at the Mobil gas station would replace Bolla Deli. There would not be signs on the outside of the convenience store indicating that it houses a Burger King, said the project’s attorney, David N. Altman.

“The Burger King’s not meant to be a destination site,” said the site’s owner, Harry Singh. “Burger King, for the people that shop in our store, is an opportunity. Instead of buying the egg sandwich in the morning and hot food at lunch, they have a choice of taking a burger.”

People expect to be able to get a whole meal at a convenience store, Singh said.

Mayor Fred Carillo said he was concerned about gas delivery trucks at the station blocking traffic.

The village limits gas deliveries to between midnight and 6 a.m., which Singh contended is not a very large window.

Carillo requested that the company present a formal application to modify the window.

“If I have four, five windows in the day I can fuel gas stations without anybody getting blocked,” Singh said.

The Old Westbury Hebrew Congregation’s intended addition of a catering hall awaits final approval from the village Board of Trustees after receiving the village Planning Board’s approval.

The congregation is both a synagogue and home to the company Ram Caterers. The catering space will house events at the congregation and comes after residents complained of noise from parties at the temple.

The village’s planning consulting company, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, produced a memo to the congregation after conducting an environmental review, the congregation’s attorney Thomas Pantelis said.

The primary questions the consultant had were about potential impacts, he said.

“Frankly, we have been discussing impacts with the board I think for two years now and I think the only impact that is potentially identified was the potential for noise,” Pantelis said. “There were some complaints when it was an open air activity and actually the construction of the building fully would help mitigate those concerns.”

The architectural team submitted a memo in response last Friday, but the Board of Trustees said it had not received it before Monday’s meeting so the members were not ready to vote.

However, to speed the process along, the two parties may set up a work session,  Carillo said.

The catering hall is going to be a fully enclosed room constructed with Thermopane glass, which project architect Alfred M. Sutton said is sound deadening at the village’s December board meeting.

The renovation will also include added storage space and a valet booth.

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