QuickChek still in the works

There has been much controversy over the new plans for a QuickChek convenience market and gas station, proposed to be built on the south side of Merrick Road in Seaford. 

In late 2014, QuickChek proposed a 6,600-square-foot store and eight fueling stations to the Town of Hempstead, which initiated a ton of backlash from the Seaford community. After revising the plan and scaling down the project, QuickChek plans to go to the town board in the upcoming months with more details. 

Attorney Bill Bonesso, representing developer Breslin, was present at the Wantagh-Seaford Homeowner’s Association meeting on Feb. 11 to gain more community input on the project. “We are still very much in our community outreach phase,” Bonesso said. “Since November of last year, we have modified the project and have been spending the last four months reaching out to the people who live on Washington Avenue and who live on the canal right around the property, and from there we are expanding out, including this organization.”

Residents at a community meeting in January expressed outrage over the use of residential land, while also raising traffic and quality-of-life concerns. QuickChek has responded with a plan that would only use existing commercial property.

“One of the biggest concerns expressed with the initial plan was that it was going to utilize residentially owned property as part of the site development,” Bonesso said. “We have eliminated that and there will be no trucks or parking behind the building, keeping it all upfront on the Merrick Road side of the property.

“Additionally, on the site layout, we’ve modified some things,” he said. “Where the underground water fountain and gas tanks were, we’ve moved to the other side of the development, away from the canal so there are no environmental issues. We’ve also redesigned the loading dock to keep it out of the way from the main circulation stream.”