At its May 13 meeting, the board instructed Merrick Superintendent Dominick Palma to write a letter to the New York State Liquor Authority and local officials in protest.

“The 150 Merrick Avenue site is located within hundreds of feet from the Norman J. Levy-Lakeside Elementary School,” the letter read. “Further, a baseball field used almost daily in the spring and fall by our Little League teams is located at the edge of the school property closest to this site. The Merrick Board of Education shares our community’s concern that it is inappropriate to newly locate a store selling tobacco and alcohol so close to a school.”

At a SMCCA meeting on May 14 about 150 Merrick Road, Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg, of Merrick, said he believed that focusing on traffic issues would be the best strategy for those opposed to the 7-Eleven to pursue, based on his past involvement in advocacy efforts concerning the Town of Hempstead. Denenberg also told the Herald Life that he believes a different business or entity at 150 Merrick Road would serve the community better than a 7-Eleven.

At the May 14 SMCCA meeting, Deputy Town Attorney Charles Kovit said the Building Department had forwarded the application to the Nassau County Department of Public Works for a technical review of the planned development’s impacts on traffic, drainage, and other issues. Michael Martino, spokesman for the county DPW, said the plans “were not approved” by the county.

“Corrections are necessary and then will have to be resubmitted,” he wrote in an email. He declined to explain further.