Hempstead Town approves Woodmere Chick-fil-A parking lot request

Five Towns residents are a step closer to waffle fries and chicken sandwiches in their backyard. The Town of Hempstead Board of Appeals granted a variance to allow changes to the parking lot of the shopping center where Chick-fil-A is planning to build their newest restaurant.

The board heard the company’s case on April 23. The restaurant will be located in the 5 Towns Shopping Center, 249-23 Rockaway Blvd., in Woodmere, although the actual building, the former site of a Pizza Hut is on the other Queens side of the border.

Because of that only a variance to allow a slight reduction in parking spaces to accommodate a drive-thru, was all that the restaurant requested from the Hempstead board. At the hearing, traffic engineer John Harter told the board that of the 1,425 parking spaces in the shopping center; only about 500 were occupied at the center’s peak occupation. Removing 23 parking spots is needed to accommodate the drive-thru.

There are three existing Chick-fil-A locations on Long Island. The franchise was founded by Samuel Truett Cathy in Atlanta in 1946, and operates in concordance with Cathy’s conservative Southern Baptist beliefs. All locations are closed on Sundays.